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Is 2025 the year the K-Pop wave fully takes over the United Kingdom? UK music retailer hmv thinks so.
A new report from the retail giant is forecasting that the genre is poised for a major breakthrough this summer – ideal timing for BTS’ Jin to release his brand new album Echo, which was announced earlier this week.
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The prediction comes after sales of K-Pop titles rose by 245% between 2020 and 2025, with several artists also set for performance in the United Kingdom throughout the year. As Stray Kids, Ateez, and Enhyphen continue to dominate the CD, the retailer also saw JUNGKOOK, BTS and TWICE lead the vinyl category only four months into the year.
The interest in the genre, HMV believes, comes after several high-profile collaborations over the past 12 months, which included BLACKPINK’s Rosé scoring the UK’s highest-charting single of all time by a female K-pop artist with APT featuring Bruno Mars and Aespa selling-out Wembley.
They think that it shows that the genre is moving away from an initial ‘niche’ market into becoming more accepted by mainstream audiences.
Speaking about the findings, David Athey, hmv’s Commercial Director, commented: “Sales of K-Pop music and merchandise are stronger than ever at hmv as we see a rise in fandom across the UK, with more and more customers wanting to purchase their own piece of the music they love.
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“The most magical part of K-Pop is in its ability to bring together an incredible community of devotees that want to celebrate the genre together. At hmv, new launch days are often overrun with K-Pop fans, and we regularly see large groups of young people come into the store to enjoy the latest K-Pop products on offer and meet like-minded people.”
Hmv revealed that the following acts dominated sales on CD and vinyl so far in 2025:
BTS’ Jin is set to release his new album, Echo, on May 16 2025 through all leading digital retailers
Some of the big hitters, according to Ticketmaster UK – with several shows either with tickets still available or are set to go on general sale soon.
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