Luminate just released its Mid-year report for 2026, and I thought it would be fun to look into some of the data on K-pop/K-pop-adjacent artists and acts. Not surprisingly, K-pop (mainly boy groups) led the CD/album sales, occupying 8 of the top 10 spots, with KATSEYE being the only girl group on the list, and interestingly, with their debut album SIS.
| Rank | Artist | Title | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTS | ARIRANG | 567,000 |
| 2 | ENHYPEN | THE SIN : VANISH | 286,000 |
| 3 | ATEEZ | GOLDEN HOUR : PART 4 | 263,000 |
| 4 | ATEEZ | GOLDEN HOUR : PART 5 | 212,000 |
| 5 | CORTIS | GREENGREEN | 169,000 |
| 6 | Stray Kids | DO IT | 141,000 |
| 7 | TOMORROW X TOGETHER | 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns | 123,000 |
| 8 | Harry Styles | Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally | 121,000 |
| 9 | Olivia Rodrigo | you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love | 114,000 |
| 10 | KATSEYE | SIS (Soft Is Strong) | 106,000 |
The only K-pop/K-pop-adjacent acts ranked in other categories are BTS (with ARIRANG and SWIM), HUNTR/X (with Golden), and JENNIE (with Dracula).
| Category | Rank | Artist / Act | Title | Sales / Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Top 10 Vinyl Albums | 1 | BTS | ARIRANG | 331,000 sales |
| U.S. Top 10 Albums | 4 | BTS | ARIRANG | 1.492 million album-equivalent units |
| U.S. Top 10 Pop Albums | 1 | BTS | ARIRANG | 1.492 million album-equivalent units |
| Global Top 10 Songs | 1 | HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI | “Golden” | 1.124 billion audio streams |
| Global Top 10 Songs | 6 | BTS | “SWIM” | 0.987 billion audio streams |
| Global Top 10 Songs | 8 | Tame Impala & JENNIE | “Dracula” | 0.942 billion audio streams |
| U.S. Top 10 Songs | 6 | HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI | “Golden” | 282.8 million audio streams |
| Canada Top 10 Songs | 5 | HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI | “Golden” | 37.4 million audio streams |
| Canada Top 10 Songs | 6 | Tame Impala & JENNIE | “Dracula” | 34.2 million audio streams |
| Music Documentaries | 8 | BTS | BTS: The Return | 45.0 million minutes watched |
K-Pop as a whole also leads in fan engagement (not a surprise here), having the highest engagement-based fans and the second-highest purchase-based fans (right after Indie fans) out of all the genres across the purchase x engagement matrix of superfans.
Additionally, South Korea has also risen in the Export Power Rankings to number 3, with BTS’ ARIRANG driving its position and with the U.S. being the largest importer of Korean music.
Some of my personal thoughts: ARIRANG has been doing immensely well, as expected, and is dominating across the board. It’s also cool to see how Golden is still holding strong (insane longevity), and Dracula is shaping up to be one of the biggest hits of 2026. Moreover, looking at the export data, it makes sense why K-Pop labels push their artists in the U.S. The market is massive, and there still is so much room for growth.
submitted by /u/Ghetto_Leda99
[link] [comments]
