MUSIC
In 2023, the first and best K-pop record written by Seventeen
The group Seventeen (S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, Dino) not only broke its own record, but also set the first K-pop record, making a huge impact in various fields at home and abroad. It was a success.
#Album sales record 16 million copies... The grandeur of ‘10 million artists’
SEVENTEEN wrote a new history in the K-pop world with their 10th mini album 'FML' (released on April 24th) and 11th mini album 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN' (released on October 23rd) released this year.
'FML' sold more than 3.99 million copies on the first day alone, and with cumulative sales of 6.28 million copies, it became the best-selling K-pop single album of all time. With 'FML', Seventeen became the only artist to sell more than 3 million copies worldwide on the first day of album release.
In addition, 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN' recorded 5,091,887 album sales (initial release) in the week after release, ranking first among all K-pop artists in the first week. This album became the first album in K-pop history to exceed 5 million copies in the first week. With all their strength, Seventeen set a record by surpassing 16 million albums in cumulative domestic album sales.
Seventeen ranked 3rd in Japan's 'Oricon Annual Rankings 2023' (counting period from December 26, 2022 to December 18, 2023) on two charts, 'Album Ranking' and 'Combined Album Ranking', with their 10th mini album 'FML'. Above, they ranked 5th with their first Japanese best album 'ALWAYS YOURS' and 7th with their 11th mini album 'SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN'. Seventeen placed all three works in the TOP 10 of the 'Album Ranking' and 'Combined Album Ranking', setting a unique record both domestically and internationally in Japan.
In addition, Seventeen ranked first and second in first week sales of overseas artist albums in 2023 with 'FML' (552,000 copies) and Japan's best album 'ALWAYS YOURS' (512,000 copies). They achieved the feat of becoming the first foreign artists to sell more than 500,000 copies in the first week of two works in a row.
Seventeen will appear at NHK's '74th Red and White Song Battle', the largest music festival of Japanese public broadcasting, to be held on the 31st. This is the first time since their debut that Seventeen will appear on ‘Red and White Song Battle’. It is even more meaningful as it appears in Japan's representative year-end special program where singers who have received the most love in the country throughout the year appear.
SEVENTEEN has a total of 20 tours this year, including the domestic fan meeting 'SEVENTEEN in CARAT LAND' (March), the Japanese fan meeting 'SEVENTEEN 2023 JAPAN FANMEETING 'LOVE'' (May), and the tour 'SEVENTEEN TOUR 'FOLLOW'' (July-December). All 23 performances were sold out.
Through a total of 23 performances, Seventeen recorded a total audience of over 1 million, mobilizing 800,000 offline audiences and 270,000 online (live streaming, live viewing) audiences. This is an increase of 200,000 from last year, and although there were fewer performances compared to last year (34 performances in total), both online and offline audiences showed an upward curve.
In particular, the urban concert play park 'SEVENTEEN 'FOLLOW' THE CITY' was held in parallel with SEVENTEEN's Japan Dome Tour this year, and was held in five cities on the largest scale in 'THE CITY' history. More than 30 partner companies participated in this event, and more than 70 programs were conducted. About 78,000 participants, which was nearly three times more than last year (28,000), enjoyed 'THE CITY' and colored the whole of Japan with Seventeen.
SEVENTEEN will hold 'SEVENTEEN TOUR 'FOLLOW' TO ASIA' in Bulacan, Philippines (Philippine Sports Stadium) on January 13-14, 2024, and Macau (Olympic Sports Center Stadium) on January 20-21, 2024. We plan to continue.
Seventeen became the first K-pop artist to stand on the podium at UNESCO Headquarters at the 13th 'UNESCO Youth Forum' held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France last November. Those who were exclusively assigned to the special session gave speeches and performances for about an hour.
Seventeen promised to expand the education campaign #Going Together, which is being carried out with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, to a global level, saying, “I experienced that there is a way to achieve dreams through mutual learning through solidarity. “Because learning, like Seventeen, can change a person, expand that person’s dreams, and further change the world,” he said, raising his voice and saying, “Let’s learn together and move forward together.”
In addition, Seventeen won 5 awards, including the grand prize, 'Album of the Year', at the '2023 MAMA Awards' held last December. SEVENTEEN, who was called the winner, went on stage and said, “While we were idols under the name SEVENTEEN, we often thought, ‘Will we be able to win this award even once?’ Thanks to Carat, I am grateful for renewing my contract and allowing me to receive this award. “I want to give glory to CARAT people,” he said with tears in his eyes as he expressed his sincere acceptance of the award.
Seventeen, who will celebrate their 10th anniversary next year, is looking forward to the global activities they will show in the future.
Kim Se-ah, Ten Asia reporter haesmik@tenasia.co.kr
