How 4th-generation girl groups are reshaping K-pop universe

Girl groups shatter theory that they lag behind boy bands in terms of album sales

By Dong Sun-hwa

The new golden age of K-pop girl groups seems to have arrived, following the first renaissance in the late 2000s and early 2010s spearheaded by acts like Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls and KARA. Newcomers that debuted in 2021-22, are currently ruling the major music streaming charts and selling a massive number of albums worldwide.

Their striking performances are something beyond most people's expectations. NewJeans, for instance, debuted with its self-titled album on Aug. 1, but it did not even take a month for the quintet to grab the No. 1 spot on Melon, one of the most dominant streaming platforms in Korea. "Attention," one of its lead singles, has been reigning atop the chart for more than two weeks as of Wednesday.

IVE also conquered the same chart back in April with its tune, "Love Dive," only about six months after its debut as did aespa with its 2021 release, "Next Level." In the case of the former's August release, "After LIKE," it made it onto Spotify's Global Top 50 chart.

Their album sales are noteworthy, too. In July, aespa sold more than one million copies of its second mini-album "Girls" during the first week of its release, becoming the first K-pop girl group to achieve the feat. NewJeans racked up 310,000 sales in only one week with its debut album, while IVE's "After LIKE" hit the 460,000 sales mark during the same period.

The recent performances of these acts ― which are part of the fourth generation of K-pop ― are shattering the long-standing theory that K-pop girl groups lag behind boy bands in terms of album sales, according to Lee Hye-jin, a clinical assistant professor of communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

K-pop boy band BTS / Courtesy of Big Hit Music

The first generation of K-pop is often believed to have started in the late 1990s with the emergence of groups like H.O.T. and S.E.S. Second-generation stars include TVXQ, BIGBANG and Girls' Generation, while the third-generation of groups includes BTS, BLACKPINK, EXO and TWICE.

Historically, female acts have been deemed less lucrative than boy bands, which often have more loyal female fans who readily purchase expensive albums, concert tickets and merchandise. Girl groups, on the other hand, had to win the hearts of the public to survive on the streaming charts with songs that appeal to a wide audience, as it was harder for them to build strong fandoms. Indeed, most of their male followers were relatively less enthusiastic about "fanboying."

Now, the game has changed. In addition to the aforementioned acts, rookie stars like Le Sserafim, Kep1er and NMIXX have also risen to instant stardom shortly after their debut and are making waves on both streaming and the album charts.

Professor Lee explains that there are three key factors behind their success.

"First, they debuted under powerful labels," she said. "Le Sserafim, aespa and NMIXX were known as the first girl groups made by BTS label HYBE, SM's new girl group, TWICE and ITZY's younger sister group, respectively, even before their official debut. Their powerful management companies and the success of other artists under the same labels gave them greater visibility from the onset. IVE is also represented by Starship Entertainment, which catapulted Monsta X and WJSN (Cosmic Girls) to fame."

Jang Won-young, a member of K-pop act IVE / Courtesy of Starship Entertainment

The public's familiarity with some members has also played a vital role, Lee added. Many of them including IVE's Jang Won-young and Ahn Yu-jin and Le Sserafim's Sakura and Kim Chae-won had remarkable fandoms before their debut, as they were part of the now-disbanded project group IZ*ONE.

"There is definitely a spillover of IZ*ONE's popularity to the success of IVE and Le Sserafim," the professor stressed. "Kep1er members also had the chance to introduce themselves through an audition show titled, 'Girls Planet 999' (2021) prior to their debut and STAYC has Sieun, a former child actor and the daughter of a famous Korean singer Park Nam-jung in the group. The last contributing factor is their songs. Most of them are just pop songs and are easy for people to hum, sing and dance to. They are lower pitched and in a comfortable singing range."

Kim Jin-woo, a music business professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts and head researcher at Circle Chart, took note of K-pop's global ascent and the expansion of its fandoms.

"After BLACKPINK became the first K-pop girl group to sell one million albums in 2020, K-pop industry insiders realized that a female act can also amass enough fans to reach this milestone," he said. "Initially, they only tried to target the Asian market with girl groups, but following the success of BLACKPINK, they began seeking to go global. They began launching more acts with the girl crush concept instead of going toward the bubbly and adorable direction, so as to appeal to female fans across the globe. In this sense, NewJeans, which brought its refreshing vibe to the forefront, is an outlier."

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

In the K-pop world, the girl crush concept refers to strong, confident and independent women that can inspire admiration from fans of the same gender.

Professor Lee, however, thinks this concept has reached its saturation point.

"Numerous acts that came out in 2021-2022 seem to show different aspects of what a girl group can look and sound like," she pointed out.

"NewJeans has thrown everything into disarray with a very laid-back, chill and retro or a throwback to the late 1990s feel, highlighting its innocence ― granted that all members are minors ― and simplicity, thereby offering a respite from the girl crush concept that seems to have hit its saturation point. It seems diversity in sound, style and the representation of femininity are some of the defining characteristics of the fourth-generation girl groups. They have also had a greater presence on platforms like TikTok and this fact partially explains why their songs have different sound styles these days ― the so-called maximalist and complex songs are less conducive to going viral on TikTok."

According to her, aespa is more experimental and edgy with its sound and music, while STAYC plays up to its members' cuteness.

"Le Sserafim and IVE are quite similar in member composition, but the two have different concepts," she added. "The former gives the message of 'I don't give a damn,' which shows their self-confidence and strong will but the latter centers more on giving a romantic feel in its music."

The success of these new girl groups demonstrates that they do not have to follow a certain recipe to be triumphant if they have quality songs and distinctive personalities.

K-pop girl group STAYC / Courtesy of HIGH-UP Entertainment

"Not everyone has to imitate BLACKPINK or (G)I-DLE's girl crush concept to survive and thrive," Lee observed. "They can start with good, catchy songs and highlight their performance skills and unique personalities like IVE and STAYC."

Kim predicts that the fourth-generation girl groups, which now have a starting line advantage thanks to the growth of K-pop's global fandom, are likely to continue their winning streak.

"We are likely to see more female acts conquering the streaming charts and selling a huge number of albums," he said. "Since the K-pop industry excels in creating an upgraded version of a successful precedent, this scenario is not something implausible. But maybe, some of them will walk in the footsteps of the boy bands, focusing more on establishing global fan bases by rolling out more hip-hop flavored tracks or experimenting with less familiar sounds and concepts."