Chapter 64: Million Sales, First Place

y choose the dance from "Roar" for the audition You know boy group dances are difficult for girls to learn, and it's hard to achieve the original feeling and intensity." The female teacher continued,...On August 16th, almost all entertainment news sections had EXO's name as their top headline.

As of yesterday, 15th at 23:59, EXO's first regular album "XOXO (KissHug)" and its re-issue album "Growl (KissHug)", the total sales of all four versions have officially surpassed one million copies.

>>

This is the first time in twelve years that a Korean music album has achieved sales of over one million copies.

Actually, on the day of its release, "Roar" sold over 400,000 copies, and people in the Korean music industry already sensed that this long-standing record was going to be broken by EXO, a boy group that had only debuted a year earlier.

It was expected, of course, but when it actually happened, the industry was thrown into turmoil.

And major media outlets and websites, who had been following this story for a long time, immediately changed their headlines that morning to report this unbelievable news.

After a morning of fermentation, most people were aware of the news. To their surprise, they flocked online to discuss it:

"It was no surprise that *Roar* achieved a million sales on its release day, I predicted it. But I didn't expect it to happen this fast! The music industry's entire idol group hierarchy has been broken by EXO!"

“This record seems to have been around for twelve years, wasn't the last million-selling album by Jin Moo Kim or someone I haven't really paid much attention to EXO before, I just heard the song 'Growl,' which is indeed pretty good. I didn't expect it to sell a million copies, it's really amazing. They are the pride of KPOP.”

"EXO is on fire! I think they are definitely the next TOP group. I've watched their "Growl" MV and stage performances, and everything is amazing. I'm almost a fan!"

"Ahhh! EXO is amazing!! They hit a million sales in their first year, wuli XO is the hottest group, definitely the top male idol group right now. They're going to win every major music award this year for sure. XO, we will always support you!"

"I'm dying laughing, if fans from other groups could also buy albums individually in tens or dozens, every group could achieve a million sales."

"The people upstairs must be fans from other groups, please don't be sour. I won't deny that EXO has many die-hard fans and strong purchasing power. But it's impossible to buy a million copies just with die-hard fans, the majority of sales still come from ordinary fans."

“The person upstairs is right, can some fans from other fandoms please focus on their own idols instead of coming here to embarrass themselves Are you blind or deaf to how popular 《Rage》 is I can't speak for other age groups, but for high school students, over 80% like 《Rage》!”

“………”

Besides the heated discussions online, what touched me most were my fellow idols. They are the ones who are most sensitive to sales figures reaching millions.

"Wow, EXO's first studio album has surpassed 1 million in sales..."

In the Girls' Generation dorm, members who had reunited to promote their new single were chatting in the living room. After seeing a news article on her phone, Kwon Yuri immediately shouted it out loud.

"Sigh, I expected this. Our highest sales are only… How is it that their sales are so high"

Kim Taeyeon lay there listlessly, hearing that she thumped her short legs twice, looking as if she had been struck.

A while back, when she was chatting with Park Kyung-won, they even discussed how EXO's first regular album sales were about to surpass Girls' Generation's best-selling album. Kim Taeyeon expressed her strong disagreement with this.

Unexpectedly, EXO didn't just surpass them, but directly broke the twelve-year record.

"Their MV this time is really well done, wasn't it designed by Jingyuan"

Hyo-yeon glanced at Sunny, and after the latter nodded in confirmation, she continued, "Oh, by the way, because of EXO's huge success this time, our next comeback's title song MV seems to also be using a one-shot style."

"Don't say any more, being surpassed in sales by so much is already difficult to bear. Now I even have to imitate juniors. In front of Jingyuan, I can't even hold my head up anymore..."

Kim Taeyeon covered her face with a pillow, her voice muffled.

"Oh..." Several sisters sighed together.

In this era of comeback albums, selling over 50,000 albums is enough to warrant a celebratory banner. For EXO's million-selling achievement, for the vast majority of artists, it's a sales figure akin to a miracle.

As industry professionals, it's natural to discuss and learn from EXO's successful experience. In a short period, many agencies have prepared for their boy groups' next comeback, incorporating elements like suits, school uniforms, jerseys, and one-shot takes.

This is particularly true for one-shot shots, including Girls' Generation. Currently, several well-known groups are known to be using this filming method in their next comeback MVs.

EXO and Park Soo-young also created a precedent, leading the trend.

For a time, EXO became the center of attention and hot topic in the entire music industry.

…………

"I Eu-Reu-ReongEu-Reu-ReongEu-Reu-Reong you."

“I Eu-Reu-ReongEu-Reu-ReongEu-Reu-Reong you.”

"If you don't back down, even if you get hurt, it doesn't matter."

In the fervent cheers and screams below, EXO's twelve members gathered in a circle, struck their Endgpose, and completed this week's Music Bank stage performance.

After EXO finished their performance, they didn't leave the stage because they were the last act to perform. After finishing, they just stood there waiting for other artists to take the stage and prepare for the awards ceremony.

Today, on Music Bank, the nominees were FX and EXO. When it was time for the award announcement, the two groups stood on either side of the MC, nervously watching the screen beside the stage where the scores were being tallied.

FX officially returned on July 31st, and today is their third week of promoting. They've already taken four number one spots, which is a pretty good result.

This time, their release is their second full-length album "PkTape". Both industry professionals and casual listeners have given it positive reviews. The lead single "First Molars" has also performed well in various charts.

Given their performance on this comeback, they should be able to achieve several number one spots on music shows after three weeks of promotion.

It's a shame that, for whatever reason, ** arranged for FX and EXO's "Growl" to be released at the same time.

Scores will soon be released.

The audio source scores are EXO 4880, FX 4200. The difference is not much.

Because it was the second week of the competition and EXO hadn't participated in several programs before, their broadcast score was 0 points, far behind FX's 1000 points.

Just as FX's fans let out a slight sigh of relief, the album sales figures were released.

EXO completely crushed FX with a sales score of 4,950 to FX's 200...

This sales score comparison made all the performers on stage and the fans in the audience gasp in astonishment.

KBS' Music Bank is a music show among other music shows that places more emphasis on sales figures. Artists with good sales perform better on this show.

"Today's shining star is... EXO, a powerhouse!"

In MC's celebratory words, the ribbons flew as EXO's "Growl" took home their first music show win since their comeback.

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First published on the Chinese Traditional Novels WebsiteI get so angry just seeing him now! From now on, I won't watch any EXO MV, listen to their music, or even read about them!"When Yu Dingyan heard this, he burst into laughter and pointed to the televis...