K-pop group SEVENTEEN has scored a major success on the international music scene with its extended play (EP) FML, which has been named the most-sold album of 2023 worldwide by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Taylor Swift, who has had a fantastic 2023 with the record-breaking The Eras Tour, is also among the Top 10 for two of her albums.
Swift, in fact, takes five of the total 20 places on the chart, showcasing her absolute dominance on the music scene of 2023.
Joining SEVENTEEN and Swift in the top 10 is South Korean boy band Stray Kids. Together, the three artists hold six of the 10 positions.
London-based IFPI is a global recording industry association and represents the interests of the worldwide music industry. It boasts of more than 8,000 record labels worldwide as its members. Its charts are compiled based on physical album sales, digital downloads, as well as audio and video streaming.
According to reports, IFPI’s charts are widely counted among the most objective indicators for measuring the best-selling albums of the year in the global music market.
SEVENTEEN scores big on IFPI chart
On 27 February 2024, IFPI announced that SEVENTEEN had won the organisation’s Global Album Award for 2023 for FML. The award is presented to an artist whose album finishes at No.1 IFPI Global Album Chart. The score for the award is calculated on the worldwide sales across streaming, download and physical music formats during a calendar year.
Though the 13-member group had appeared on the list in previous years, this is the first time they have topped it.
According to IFPI, FML was the “most pre-ordered in K-Pop history.” The EP, recorded in April 2023, debuted at No.1 in South Korea and reached the top spot in Japanese charts. It was also in the the Top 5 in France and the US.
SEVENTEEN’s second appearance in the top 10 of the 2023 IFPI Global Album Chart was in the No.8 position for their follow up album SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, which was released in October. It set a record for being the first K-pop album to sell more than 5 million copies in the first week of sales.
Other K-pop acts dominate Global Album list of 2023
The 2023 IFPI Global Album Chart presents 20 top performing albums.
In what is certainly proof of K-pop’s global appeal, South Korean acts occupied five spots in the top 10 of the chart. This, according to the organisation, is the best ever Global Charts performance for K-Pop.
Apart from SEVENTEEN’s two places, Stray Kids took two spots with 5-STAR at No.2 and ROCK-STAR at No.9. NCT DREAM made their debut on the chart with ISTJ at No.6.
Three more K-pop acts feature in the list between No.11 and No.20. These include ZEROBASEONE for YOUTH IN THE SHADE and IVE for I’ve IVY making their debuts at No.18 and No.20, respectively.
BTS idol Jung Kook also made his debut on the IFPI Global Album Chart as a solo artist at No.14 with his album GOLDEN.
Taylor Swift takes a fourth of all spots on Global Album Chart
Taylor Swift, the first and only woman solo artist to win the Grammy for Album Of The Year thrice, has been on a roll through 2023. She is now a self-made billionaire in music, thanks to the stupendous sales of her recently released albums and her ongoing concert The Eras Tour.
Swift took two spots in the Top 10 and a total of five in the Top 20. Midnights at No.4 was in the Top 5 for the second consecutive time. It was followed by 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at No.5.
Lover, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and folklore were the other three albums for which Swift occupied No.11, No.12 and No.13 spots on the chart.
A week ago, on 21 February 2024, IFPI named Swift the winner of the Global Recording Artist of the Year Award 2023 as she finished No.1 on its Global Artist Chart. The win was Swift’s fourth in the 11 year history of the chart, making her the most successful artist in IFPI’s lists.
(Hero image: 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN)/@pledis_17/Twitter; Featured image: Taylor Swift/@taylorswift13/Twitter)
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Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
