(Clockwise from top center) BTS, EXO’s Baekhyun, NCT Dream, NCT 127, Seventeen, IZ*ONE, TWICE and GOT7 (Twitter/Facebook)
After naming the topnotchers in album sales by category, Korea’s Hanteo Chart has unveiled the overall top 10 best-selling K-pop albums for the first half of 2020.
Of the top 10, seven are by K-pop groups including two that are “million sellers” and one is by a solo artist. Two groups have two entries each.
K-pop superstars BTS took first place with album sales of 3.79 million from January to June for their “Map of the Soul: 7,” which was released last February. Hanteo Chart said after the album’s first week, “Map of the Soul: 7” ranked first on the daily albums chart for 14 times to set the record for “most frequent first place.”
Boy band Seventeen, now under the Big Hit Entertainment family, placed second when their new album “Heng:garae,” released only last June 22, sold 1.1 million copies as of June 30. Hanteo noted that Seventeen became the second artist after BTS to sell a million copies in the first week of release of an album. They are also the third in first-week sales in K-pop history.
EXO’s Baekhyun grabbed third place, the only solo artist in the top 10. His album “Delight” sold 897,971 copies until June 30. As of July 5, the album’s sales totaled 905,935 copies and it’s only a matter of time before it reaches 1 million on the chart.
NCT Dream bagged fourth place with 551,538 copies of their “Reload” album sold in the first half of the year.
NCT 127 placed fifth as their “Neo Zone” album, released on March 6, tallied 449,479 copies in sales until June 30.
IZ*ONE copped the sixth and seventh places. Their “Oneiric Diary,” released last June 15, sold 418,701 copies to place sixth while their first studio album “BLOOM*IZ,” released last Feb. 17, got seventh place with 411,352 copies sold as of June 30.
TWICE’s “More & More” album ranked eight with 370,289 copies sold. GOT7’s “Dye” album garnered 349,693 copies in sales to place ninth while NCT 127’s repackaged album “Neo Zone: The Final Round” placed 10th with 335,275 copies sold.