Countdown begins: why prominent K-pop singers rush to return in November?

By Dong Sun-hwa

Hardly a day passes recently without news of K-pop stars returning to stage ― EXO (Nov. 2), TWICE (Nov. 5), K.will (Nov. 6), Jennie from BLACKPINK (Nov. 12) and Wanna One (Nov. 19).

Do you see anything that the dates have in common?

“November.”

Then a question may follow: Why have so many K-pop household names picked November for their comeback?

“Most singers are reluctant to release their albums in months with big events such as national holidays, so they avoid December,” music critic and a radio script writer Kim Ban-ya told The Korea Times.

December has a myriad of end-of-year awards and ceremonies, so people's attention is mostly on these occasions instead of singers' new offerings.

“Therefore, for those who want to release albums this year, November is virtually the last chance to do so,” Kim added. “In fact, throughout the year, if singers exclude the months with special events, they do not have many options left.”

Ballad singers have their own reasons, too.

“Many ballad singers hold regular gigs at the end of year, so they usually release fresh tracks before December for their upcoming concerts.”

However, the critic explained that nowadays, the timing of an album release does not quite matter as it did in the past.

“A flood of new songs are released every month these days,” said Kim. “This means that whenever a singer releases a new number, there are always competitive rivals, so the timing of a release does not determine the success of a song anymore.”

She added that the season was a more decisive factor when planning a release.

“There seems to be a seasonal effect ― more ballads hit shelves during winter, while dance songs thrive more during summer.”

Another music critic, Jung Min-jae, presented a similar perspective, adding that there was no concrete data showing an increase in album sales in November.

“Unlike the film industry, the music market does not have particular seasons,” said Jung. “The timing of an album release is not fixed, but those who want to be recognized in the end-of-year awards may make a comeback in November.”

Jung added that only a few groups, usually idols like EXO and Super Junior, were likely to be concerned with album sales.

“The album sales of singers like Kiha & The Faces do not fluctuate depending on the timing of the release,” Jung said.