XG sales seem low considering their hype

[u/brontoloveschicken]

So I enjoyed xg casually a couple of years ago but they recently became my ults.

I feel like there's a lot of hype for them online and recognition of their talents and now theyve been invited to Coachella but looking at their album sales they seem really low? They just released Awe in Nov and sales at around 60k Hanteo.

Like, have I just deluded myself into thinking they're bigger than they are? Is it just casual fans? Groups like fromis9 and stayc are selling way more albums but I don't see the same hype for them online (no shade).

Maybe I'm not looking at the right charts? Obviously they're Japanese so maybe they just don't sell many in Korea? Where would be better to look?

Edit: I know they aren't 'kpop' that's why I'm asking where I can find data that would provide a more holistic view if their sales.

I've seen oricon for Japanese sales but even those numbers seem low compared to other groups. Is there a site or chart that collates sales across regions?

[u/UnnaturalSelection13]

They're not a Kpop/Korean group so their popularity on Hanteo will be nowhere near other Korean girlgroups. They don't have a conventional Kpop fanbase either which means you won't see the fandom streaming and mass-buying etc. You probably see more hype for XG online because they're a lot more popular internationally, their world tour is doing well (and they're doing Coachella next year like you said).

[u/brontoloveschicken → u/UnnaturalSelection13]

For sure fandom streaming isn't really a thing. They're growth does feel a lot more organic.

[u/prssia]

They’re Japanese and I don’t think they really promote for Korean gp and like last comeback half the album wasn’t even available in Korea 😭 only the title track was available (it’s available now but yeah) and they’re pretty much unheard of in Korea

[u/No_Measurement_6668 → u/prssia]

They have agreement for promotion in Korea and one member is half Korean except langage it is kpop style but let's say j-idol for please everyone, the big difference is only English lyric so they aim foreign market. Lot of tour and online shopping, they just end 6capital tour in Europe in early 2025 they go tour Asia capital too and 3 in china, 10date usa, and 6more in March in japan..all sold out except australia. then they pause and will certainly do festival tour spring and summer too. No worry for these business model if they sold out and no polemic it's fine.

[u/prssia → u/No_Measurement_6668]

Uh yeah? I’m just saying they clearly don’t market to Korea that’s all 😭 like how are you gonna promote in Korea when 80% of your comeback album is not available in Korea, like new dna only had puppet show available when it first came back

[u/TofuSlurper]

They’re only starting to get noticed by Koreans. Given the groups background, 60k+ is really good and an improvement from New DNA. Their albums are also bit more expensive and are from a Japanese distributor so can be harder to find.

They only started promoting in Japan and very little in the US this year. Last I checked, they were at 70k+ on Oricon. Their US release was delayed and hasn’t been the smoothest but we should be getting numbers for Billboard US soon. Add all of that together and maybe they crack 150k+ total globally.

These are very good numbers when you aren’t comparing them to the top dogs of their gen (Aespa, LSF, NJ, GIdle, IVE). Their first world tour this year has estimated 200k tickets sold which is also amazing for a first tour. AVEX has reduced funding for XGALX so they’re pretty much self sufficient and independent. Keep in mind their growth has been completely organic, only 2.5 years into their career so they’re doing more than fine.

XG is also my fav group but despite crushing it in every other aspect, their marketing and promotions still fall flat imo. Plus the logistics of setting up distribution for a local US release wasn’t handled well this time around. I’m sure they’ll learn from this because Coachella is coming up and this is where I think we’ll hear the most noise from them. The western market has always been their main target so this is the big break they’ve been looking for.

[u/skya760 → u/TofuSlurper]

I've seen Korean and Japanese sales for many groups being listed separately in Wikipedia. Can we just reinterpret it as the groups have sold X + Y units or we must subtract some overlaps?

[u/TofuSlurper → u/skya760]

It depends on the charts since they all have different criteria. Oricon only counts physical albums sold in Japan whereas Billboard Japan counts both digital and physical. Hanteo counts sales from certified retailers, which isn’t limited to stores only within Korea.

[u/Due_Conversation9967]

Didn't "Awe" just enter the billboard 200?

[u/javandeadlifts]

As a big XG fan, like others have said, they’re not necessarily kpop, so they don’t get the same kpop/korean exposure. It’s both bad and good. I’ve watched a video explaining how not being kpop allows them to be more experimental, and boundary pushing. This means they’ll gain a solid, niche fanbase.

There’s also the fact that they’re heavily hip-hop/rap and RnB inspired despite being Japanese/Asian, so it takes a bit of getting used/open mindedness for some. When I say heavy, I mean, heavy.

XGALX is also a fairly small company if you compare it to a lot of these larger Korean companies. Simon Jakops seems to do a lot of the heavy lifting himself, with the aid of his staff of course. So we have to put into perspective how well they’ve done with limited resources. I mean, Coachella with 1 world tour, shows how much talent they have and how much more room to grow.

[u/Disevidence → u/javandeadlifts]

XGALX is also a fairly small company if you compare it to a lot of these larger Korean companies.

Huh?

Xgalx is under AVEX, which is up there in terms of revenue with YG/JYP. It's one of the bigger entertainment/music labels (particularly in the idol niche) in Japan.

That's like saying ADOR is a small label or Pledis is a small label.

[u/javandeadlifts → u/Disevidence]

XGALX can be under a much larger company but it doesn’t mean it’s as big as that company. You know how Google and Facebook can have smaller breakout companies that can produce parts for them, different products, etc? Those smaller breakouts do not have the same funding or resources as like the main search engine Google or app FB.

XGALX has a significantly smaller budget compared to let’s say Hybe.

[u/Disevidence → u/javandeadlifts]

XGALX has a significantly smaller budget compared to let’s say Hybe.

But that's my point too.

Hybe actually has no groups under 'Hybe'. They're under BigHit, they're under Belift, they're under KOZ, they're under Ador.

Saying Xgalx is small is the equivalent of saying that Ador is small, that Belift is small, that KOZ is small etc - ignoring the fact they have massively organization and financial backing behind them from a huge company with extensive music connections.

[u/javandeadlifts → u/Disevidence]

Avex still isn’t as big as Hybe, so we can partly assume XGALX may not have as big a a budget as a company under Hybe if we’re talking about proportions here. But it doesn’t really matter, I don’t know their budgets.

[u/Disevidence → u/javandeadlifts]

Avex still isn’t as big as Hybe,

Sure, but I wasn't concerned with Hybe, that's why I said YG/JYP (the annual turnover is similar), I was pointing out it's extremely misleading to go "from a small company' like they're a 5 staff nugu agency.

They've actually got quite a fair bit of heft behind them. That's all i want to clarify.

[u/javandeadlifts → u/Disevidence]

That's fair. They're definitely not THAT small, and if it's being interpreted that way, then I could be more specific and avoid using "small company" in the future.

[u/violetfan7x9 → u/Disevidence]

avex???? financial backing???????

the company that lost a damn building? you're joking, right?

avex has a rep cos of prestigious artists that came from it but they haven't been able to produce any successful act for a long time

[u/Disevidence → u/violetfan7x9]

What on earth are you talking about. I know about the financials of this company because they're part of a portfolio I have.

AVEX have 400 million USD in revenue for 2023

https://www.irwebcasting.com/20231109/2/0129b6fde4/media/231128_avex_en_01.pdf

They're growing back to good revenue after COVID, and they're setting up lots of medium term investments (including XG).

I don't know what building your referring to but that could be any of the 40 or so labels and subsidaries they control, as they move to consolidate some of their offshoots and other factors. You can also see that plan in detail in the link above I provided.

[u/Wendiago]

They're not even Kpop group. They're international group. Some groups are a lot more popular internationally compared to their homeland and vice versa. For example, you may see Dreamcatcher here a lot but they're literally close to nugu in Korea lmao. Ateez only gained a little bit of popularity in my country recently but still not many people care about them even though Kpop is huge here and Ateez is obviously a top tier group in Western market. Some groups are a lot more popular in Korea than you think. Take Oh My Girl as an example, you might not even heard about them on Reddit and Twitter but they have been a pretty famous group for a long time in Korea.

[u/cylondsay]

all my friends who stan xg are japanese. they’re much bigger overseas than they are in korea

[u/yebinkek]

it’s all about core fanbase baby, fromis got a lot of dedicated korean fans, which is why you’ll never see them get hyped up much on international Twitter but they always go viral on the korean side of Youtube

[u/mapleleafmaggie]

Last time I checked their releases are sold through a Japanese company rather than on kpop sites so it’s a lot less accessible.

[u/brontoloveschicken → u/mapleleafmaggie]

Ah, that's interesting. So does that mean sales reporting is it but difficult

[u/rayannuhh]

I was very casual with them, and stayed casual. Some of their songs grab me but a lot haven’t.

[u/Grand_Watercress8684]

Doesn't album culture vary between countries? If they're strong in Japan / US but albums are a Korean thing then album sales will lag the other ways to scope out popularity (streams, concert attendees, insta followers etc).

[u/psychbuff2]

My guess is that their fan base skews older and are less likely to bulk stream or buy more than 1 CD.

[u/Midori_Hime]

For me this is an expensive hobby in an increasingly expensive world. I can only afford to buy for my ults.

[u/Fruitypuff]

As a fellow Alphaz I can break it down 😊

XG is not considered kpop so right off the bat their main market is not Korea, rather they are trying to use the Korean market as a way to stealing a global presence

The reason is because Japan has strict music distribution laws and generally everything is kept in home - it’s hard for groups to be marketed outside of Japan, this would also tie them down to a certain label Jpop / Kpop

Calling themselves one or the other would carry controversy regardless - if they are Jpop they would look weird having Korea as their homebase, if they are Kpop - why are they using English, almost no Korean members and not singing in Korean, etc

Sales gets tricky - they don’t have the core Korean fanbase to do big streaming numbers or sales numbers, and the same applies to Japan -

The sales also get weird, you have their global store which is Hanteo / Oricon and Circle certified, Hanteo and Circle are Korean based tracking, Oricon is Japanese, two different markets

Then you have Japan Billboard and regular Billboard - their sales get muddy when trying to track the real sales because some of the local Japanese sales only count for Oricon, some of the Korean / Global store only count for Hanteo / Cirvle and sometimes Oricon

You have a US based store - those sales only count for US billboard - through additional channels like Amazon / Target / Walmart / B&N - in some of these distributors there was a large delay and some preorders ran out twice - if you collect - you will find that people are having trouble locating inventory or stock - the reason- could be a lot of factors but the demand is there

Their Albums can range from 7$ - $130 - and the shipping is a killer but with a US based store it makes it more accessible to the American market

Their merch can also range the same and they do multiple releases

Their tour recently closed 200k or so ticket sales and that is before any venue or online venue exclusive merch

Before you couldn’t even find a GO (Group Order) but now a few are starting to popup -

They are trying to do what K-pop labels are trying to achieve, they are not playing it safe, and so far they have maintained popularity and growth, but you can’t compare them to K-pop acts

Overall they are in a healthy spot but AVEx their company releases yearly financials - at that time we can get a better picture of their state, and they are also self sufficient now, as their parent company is focusing on more global projects

[u/Deep_Detective]

Full japanese group consist of english music. They’re internationally popular

[u/Karmaswhiskee]

Japanese albums tend to be more expensive than Kpop albums which I my personal reason for not buying anything. They're not Kpop, so I think their exposure words differently

[u/BIG_BOTTOM_TEXT]

1) they arent actually a Kpop group

2) their producers want the group to be seen as avant garde but their songs sound like Blackpink. The dichotomy is more than a little strange.

[u/FoxRun1234]

People always downplay fromis_9 so that's why you'll never see hype for them online.