Tomorrow X Together (TXT) was one of the top-selling K-pop idol groups in the United States for the first half of this year. Courtesy of Big Hit Music

Is it due to the familiarity of overseas K-pop fans with Korea's "ppalli-ppalli" (hurry-hurry) culture? According to a report by music data aggregator Luminate, 70 to 80 percent of K-pop listeners on U.S. music platforms tune in within a week of release.

This is faster than any other genre, including hip-hop and Latin (60 to 70 percent), pop (50 to 60 percent) and country (40 to 50 percent), highlighting K-pop fans' high loyalty.

Kim Do-heon, a popular music critic, interprets this "ppalli-ppalli" consumption as a result of K-pop's unique fandom culture of "streaming onslaught" spreading to the United States.

"Streaming onslaught" refers to the intense and coordinated effort by K-pop fans to rapidly and repeatedly stream their favorite artists' new releases to boost their rankings on music charts.

In the U.S., K-pop fans use the same tactic on Spotify, the world's largest music platform, to achieve surprise appearances on Billboard's Hot 100 chart of their favorite idols.

K-pop has also been identified as the genre with the most CD versions produced in the U.S.

In the first half of this year, K-pop idol groups such as Tomorrow X Together, Ateez, Twice and Stray Kids released an average of 14.7 versions of their CDs per album in the U.S.

To boost album sales, the K-pop industry employs marketing strategies such as changing album jacket images or photo cards of idol group members while keeping the tracklist the same.

For instance, Ateez released 26 versions of its album "The World EP. Final: Will" in the U.S. last December, which topped the Billboard 200 chart. This is twice the average number of versions released by American artists (13 versions).

K-pop boy band Ateez topped the Billboard 200 albums chart in the U.S. last year. Courtesy of KQ Entertainment

Localization groups more popular

In the Japanese music market, idol groups with "K-pop DNA" are making significant strides. The group JO1, composed entirely of Japanese members who underwent K-pop trainee training, topped Japan's single album sales chart for the first half of the year with its album "Hitchhiker," selling over 523,000 copies.

This is the highest sales for any K-pop-related idol group with a single album, surpassing Seventeen's best album, "17 Is Right Here," which sold around 423,000 copies.

Another localized K-pop idol group, INI, sold approximately 272,000 copies of its album "Match Up," released in February.

Both JO1 and INI originated from the TV audition program "Produce 101 Japan," produced by CJ ENM in collaboration with Japanese local agencies.

Music critic Kim Sang-hwa said, "Idol groups composed entirely of Japanese members are expanding their fan base because their performances, including synchronized dancing, are comparable to those of Korean K-pop idol groups."

With K-pop growing in both the U.S. and Japan, the industry surpassed 1 trillion won ($780 million) in overseas sales for the first time last year, according to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.

Group JO1, a Japanese idol group formed after a K-pop-style audition show / Courtesy of CJ ENM

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by staff of The Korea Times.