Aespa (pictured) has released a debut studio album entitled Armageddon, and an over $100 edition includes a CD player and more. Photo Credit: SM Entertainment
After South Korean fans purchased north of 115 million physical albums during 2023, Aespa has sold out a more than $100 physical edition, complete with a CD as well as a CD player, of its debut studio album.
That album, Armageddon, became available via streaming platforms today. Coinciding with the SM Entertainment-signed group’s first full-length project is a series of physical editions packaged with posters, stickers, postcards, and more. And the most interesting of these editions appears to be that featuring the CD player.
Manufactured in South Korea and available only to domestic customers, the CD player option also includes five photocards, 10 stickers, and a Korean-language lyric sheet for the album, according to the appropriate product page. The Korea Times has reported that wired earbuds are part of the offering as well.
Priced at ₩145,000 (currently $106.45), the CD player Armageddon package is sold out on the main purchase page – that is, through SM itself. (One Instagram post plugging the product, published by Karina four days back, has racked up 1.61 million likes.) Pre-orders are expected to begin shipping out in late July, SM relayed, and it stands to reason that the player could encourage further physical sales down the line.
All told, Armageddon pre-orders – across all versions, not solely that boasting the CD player – have topped one million units, per SM. During today’s trading, the Kakao-allied business’s shares (KOSDAQ: 041510) spiked 5.27 percent to ₩95,800 ($70.30) apiece.
As mentioned at the outset, 2023 delivered record physical sales in South Korea – with K-pop acts dominating the year’s global albums chart and performing well on the IFPI’s bestsellers list (for artists’ overall physical, streaming, and downloads) as a result.
While only time will tell whether K-pop mainstays can top last year’s album sales in 2024 – Seventeen alone sold the better part of 20 million units in 2023 – leading companies are teeing up aggressive release schedules. For SM, that includes more than 35 total albums, among them an upcoming project from Red Velvet.
And notwithstanding the high-profile battle involving Ador and its Hybe parent, NewJeans released an EP entitled How Sweet this past Friday. Regional reports have indicated that the four-track effort (including “How Sweet,” “Bubble Gum,” and instrumental versions of each) moved a whopping 800,000 units on its first day of availability.
Also finding audiences are releases from relatively seldom-discussed K-pop acts such as Zerobaseone, which debuted in July of 2023 and dropped You Had Me At Hello two weeks ago. During the first week of availability, the seven-song EP sold over 1.4 million total units, Circle Chart data shows.
