K-pop stars outpace Western artists in US CD sales
K-pop boy bands BTS, ENHYPEN, ATEEZ and Cortis dominated US CD sales in the first half of 2026, outperforming their Western counterparts in the physical album market.
Luminate, the company that provides data for the Billboard charts, released its Midyear Report: Trends in Music, TV & Film 2026, which showed that K-pop artists claimed eight of the Top 10 bestselling CD albums in the US during the first six months of the year.
BTS' "Arirang" ranked No. 1 with 567,000 copies sold, followed by ENHYPEN's "THE SIN : VANISH" with 286,000 copies.
ATEEZ occupied the third and fourth spots. Their "Golden Hour : Part 4" sold 263,000 copies while "Golden Hour : Part 5" sold 212,000 copies.
Cortis' "GreenGreen" rounded out the Top Five with 169,000 copies sold.
The remaining Top 10 comprised Stray Kids' "Do It:" with 141,000 copies, Tomorrow X Together's "7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns" with 123,000 copies, Harry Styles' "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally." with 121,000 copies, Olivia Rodrigo's "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love" with 114,000 copies, and Katseye's "SIS (Soft Is Strong)" with 106,000 copies.
In his introduction to the report, Luminate CEO Rob Jonas credited BTS' "Arirang" for fueling the resurgence of CD sales and helping South Korea rise to third place in the company's Export Power Rankings.
"CD sales surged 16 percent to 16.3 million units, outpacing vinyl's modest 2.4 percent growth, thanks largely to BTS' 'Arirang.' Strip out BTS and the wider K-pop catalog, and CD sales still grew by 6.7 percent, helped along by 60 percent of Gen Z listeners now saying they most listen to music from the 1990s or earlier, up from just 18 percent in 2021. That same 'Arirang' effect carried South Korea to third in Luminate's Export Power Rankings," he wrote.
The rankings highlight K-pop's continued dominance in the US physical album market even as Western artists remain strong in streaming and other music consumption formats.
Elsewhere in Luminate's Midyear Music Rankings, BTS' "Swim" ranked No. 6 on the Global Top 10 Songs (On-Demand Audio Streams) with 987 million streams.
Meanwhile, "Arirang" placed No. 4 on the US Top 10 Albums chart with 1.492 million total album-equivalent units consumed.
The album also topped the US Top 10 Vinyl Albums chart with 331,000 copies sold.
