If you want to be a K-pop star, it seems as if all you need to do is sign with S.M. Entertainment. Independent Korean record label S.M. Entertainment has produced four groups that have sold the most albums in 2014.
According to Goan charts, which act as Billboard charts do in the United States, male idol group EXO took the first two places on the list, while Super Junior followed in third place.
The group EXO consists of two subgroups, EXO-K for the South Korean subgroup and EXO-M for the Chinese subgroup. EXO-K sold the most physical albums in 2014, with Overdose. But it was closely followed by EXO’s Mandarin-speaking EXO-M for the Chinese version of the same album. Combined, the group sold 600,000 copies of Overdose in South Korea.
Third in line for that title was Super Junior, whose album Mamacita sold more than 400,000 copies with TVXQ’s Tense and Girls' Generation's Mr.Mr following closely behind in fourth and fifth places. Though it seems like S.M. Entertainment is ruling the boards lately, no S.M. artist was within the top five digital sales, streaming sales or online downloads.
The reason for this is because idol groups in South Korea are so popular that they tend to overtake the physical sales because of their large fan bases. But the digital charts are more likely to follow current musical trends.
All three of the digital charts were dominated by Soyu X Junggigo's duet “Some.” Park Hyo Shin's "Wild Flower" took second. Taeyang, IU and Raina x San-E's songs took the last three places with different orders and songs on the three different charts.
So it seems that if you are a K-pop star looking to sell some records, time to sign with S.M. Entertainment.
