Here Are The Sales Comparisons Of HYBE, SM, JYP And YG Entertainment Over The Past 4 Years

As we move into the second quarter of 2023, the sales reports for the previous year are out. Korean news outlets have compiled the sales charts for the top four entertainment companies in South Korea — SM Entertainment, HYBE, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment.

In the graphs for total revenue, the orange bar indicates local revenue while the blue indicates foreign. HYBE is listed as BigHit Entertainment for 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, SM Entertainment took the lead with NCT and EXO‘s tour. 2019 was the year of huge expansion in popularity for NCT, especially locally. BTS also went on a successful tour, as did TWICE and BLACKPINK.

In 2020, COVID-19 broke out, and most of the industry slowed down. However, BigHit Entertainment turned adversity into success, overtaking SM Entertainment in revenue. Their global revenue soared as BTS hit new strides.

In 2021, we saw the continuation of COVID-19, but with the move into an endemic, concerts began to start up again in the latter half.

In 2022, BTS’s Jin entered the military while the rest of the group continued solo activities. SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, and TXT continued their success and helped scale HYBE even larger. BLACKPINK had an incredibly fruitful year of touring, while Stray Kids hit the roof in global popularity. HYBE also debuted NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM to great success. HYBE’s sales were almost double of close competitor SM Entertainment.

Moving on to top-selling albums per year, here are the numbers for the top three.

1. 2019

Gaon Charts

• BTS’s Map Of The Soul: PERSONA: 3,718,230
• SEVENTEEN’s An Ode: 858,872
• EXO’s OBSESSION: 766,294

Hanteo Charts

• BTS’s Map Of The Soul: PERSONA: 2,539,70*
• SEVENTEEN’s An Ode: 795,78*
• EXO’s OBSESSION: 601,10*

2. 2020

Gaon Charts

• BTS’s Map Of The Soul: 7: 4,376,975
• BTS’s BE: 2,692,022
• SEVENTEEN’s Heng:garæ: 1,377813

Hanteo Charts

• BTS’s Map Of The Soul: 7: 3,839,24*
• BTS’s BE: 2,343,70*
• SEVENTEEN’s Heng:garæ: 1,146,46*

3. 2021

Gaon Charts

• BTS’s Butter: 2,999,407
• NCT 127‘s Sticker: 2,427,559
• NCT Dream‘s Hot Sauce: 2,097,185

Hanteo Charts

• BTS’s Butter: 2,258,2**
• NCT 127’s Sticker: 1,966,0**
• NCT Dream’s Hot Sauce: 1,824,2**

4. 2022

Gaon Charts

• BTS’s Proof: 3,482,598
• Stray Kids’ MAXIDENT: 3,176,233
• SEVENTEEN’s Face The Sun: 2,867,353

Hanteo Charts

• BTS’s Proof: 3,051,082
• Stray Kids’ MAXIDENT: 2,658,920
• SEVENTEEN’s Face The Sun: 2,521,486

Sales numbers are not yet out for 2023, but there are already great plans for K-Pop in the year. TWICE will be going on a world tour with fully sold-out dates already. BLACKPINK will also be performing in France, while Stray Kids, TXT, NCT, and BTS’s Suga will be embarking on world tours.