Merch albums, which combine goods and albums, are steadily gaining popularity in the K-pop market. When purchasing various goods such as lip balm, dice, and doll keyrings, albums are provided together.

Merch albums include music listening media such as mini CDs, QR cards, and NFC chips, and their popularity is attributed to having both collectible value and practicality. These albums are also reflected in major album chart aggregations such as Hanteo Chart and Circle Chart, receiving high attention from fans.

Recently, rookie boy group CORTIS released their second mini-album ″GREENGREEN″ merch album in three versions: lip balm, dice, and ball. The lip balm version included a moisturizing lip balm engraved with the team logo, the dice version contained a 20-sided die with the lyrics of the title track ″REDRED,″ and the ball version was composed in the form of a doll that can be customized according to individual preferences with thread and fabric. It quickly sold out after pre-orders began, confirming fans’ enthusiastic response.

A Big Hit Music official stated about the merch album planning, ″The focus of the merch album planning was to visualize the members’ unpredictable free-spirited charm and the album’s message so that it can naturally blend into fans’ daily lives.″ They added, ″Merch albums go beyond a new form of album and serve as the most intuitive medium to convey CORTIS’s team brand and the unique message of their music.″

Other groups are also releasing various merch albums. NCT WISH released their first full-length album ″Ode to Love″ in April with the ″WITCHU″ version that included a doll keyring, and this version contained an NFC music card. AILET released their fourth mini-album ″MAMIHLAPINATAPAI″ in a gua sha version that included a facial massage tool. NCT JNJM released an album including sneakers, and DAY6 released an album including in-ear earphones.

The diversification of merch albums is considered by the industry to have started with BIGBANG G-Dragon’s solo album ″G-Dragon,″ released in USB form in 2017. At that time, Hanteo Chart included ″G-Dragon″ in album sales aggregation, but Circle Chart (formerly Gaon Chart) stated that it was ″difficult to recognize as an album.″ Since the following year, it has been recognized as an album by Circle Chart as well, and the forms of physical albums have diversified.

In the first quarter of this year, HYBE and SM Entertainment recorded album and music sales of 271.5 billion KRW (about 38.9% of total sales) and 57.5 billion KRW (30.4% of total sales), respectively. Merch albums are classified separately from MD and are reflected in album sales aggregation and revenue, stimulating fans’ purchasing desires with practicality and collectible value. Currently, many special versions are released separately from basic albums, but the industry expects the scope of use to expand.