[theqoo] [EXCLUSIVE] THE BETRAYAL OF K-POP'S ECO-FRIENDLY ALBUMS... 6,667 TONS OF PLASTIC CDS FROM 'FANSIGN' EVENTS MASS PRODUCED AT BARGAIN PRICES

6,667 tons.

That’s the amount of non-recyclable plastic produced over four years starting in 2021 by major South Korean entertainment companies. It’s equivalent to about 4,445 mid-sized cars. CDs, in particular, are made of polycarbonate (PC), which takes about 100 years to decompose naturally. Because landfilling or incinerating them generates pollutants and greenhouse gases, CDs have been labeled a major source of environmental pollution.

The entertainment industry has responded by reducing packaging and components or eliminating CDs altogether. Instead, they’ve introduced “smart albums” that let users access music via NFC or QR codes. But are CD-free albums really eco-friendly? While marketed as reducing plastic, the K-pop industry may actually be harming the environment in more subtle ways. Despite earning hundreds of billions of won annually, entertainment companies pay only around 100 million won in waste-related fees.

In the end, you still have to buy CDs

A Korea Times investigation examined 58 albums released by the country’s four major entertainment companies (HYBE, SM, YG, JYP) that included CD-free options. Except for BTS member J-Hope’s “Charm of Hope,” which was released only as an NFC keyring album, 57 albums still had CD versions as the default, with smart albums offered merely as an option.

This is where “greenwashing” comes in. Among 625 fan-sign event announcements tied to these albums, only 9.7% allowed entry with the purchase of a smart album. A full 78.4% required buying a CD album to apply. For example, SM, despite releasing the most smart albums (25), limited eligibility in most events (22 cases) to buyers of CD-included photobook versions.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency, one in four K-pop fans buys albums specifically to enter events like fan signings. Since each album comes with one entry ticket, fans often buy dozens of identical albums to increase their chances of winning.

So even though “eco-friendly options” exist, fans still end up purchasing large quantities of CDs to attend events. Professor Park So-jung of Hanyang University pointed out that it’s problematic to promote eco-friendly marketing while ignoring practices that encourage excessive physical album purchases.

Contradictions in “eco-friendly” strategies

The contradiction is especially clear among companies that have launched their own smart album formats. According to the Ministry of Environment, SM’s plastic production increased from about 400 tons in 2022 (when it introduced its NFC-based “SMini” albums) to 647 tons in 2024. HYBE saw a similar trend: after launching its eco-friendly “Weverse Album” in 2022 with 729 tons of plastic production, the figure doubled to 1,405 tons the following year.

An industry insider admitted that due to chart rankings and revenue structures, it’s difficult to reduce reliance on plastic albums.

What’s inside a K-pop album?

The production system itself also contributes to the problem. Companies release multiple versions of the same album with different designs and include randomized items like photocards and posters, encouraging fans to buy multiple copies.

For example, Stray Kids’ 4th album “Karma,” which sold 3 million copies in its first week, was released in five versions, including a standard CD version, limited edition, accordion version, and compact version, alongside an NFC keyring album. The standard version, eligible for fan sign events, comes in two sub-versions, each with 8 different random photocards.

Fans trying to collect all photocards may end up buying hundreds of copies of the same album.

One version of the album contained 17 separate items: plastic wrapping, a box, a 112-page photobook, postcards, a mini poster, a paper CD sleeve, coated stickers, and photocards. That means buying a single album generates 17 pieces of waste.

Similarly, aespa’s mini album “Rich Man,” which sold over 1 million copies in its first week, was released in five designs. The “Burst” and “Energy” versions, used for fan sign entries, had 10 random cover variations. The included photocards and photobook images varied depending on the member featured, pushing fans to repeatedly purchase the same album to get their preferred version or complete the set.

Bottom line:
Even as the industry promotes eco-friendly alternatives, its core business model, driven by collectibles, fan events, and chart competition, continues to incentivize mass production and overconsumption of physical albums.

[...]

source: https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/469/0000923968?sid=102

original post: here

1. I really think the environmental surcharge needs to be increased.... It would be different if all of that were actually being used, but it feels too harmful that it just ends with buying, doing mass events, taking out the photocard, and throwing it away

2. I even cringe when buying albums now. It's a useless paper album plastered with stickers and completely devoid of any design thought, made solely to sell

3. Who even uses CDs anymore... Let's get rid of all CDs and stick to selling photocards with a digital platform QR code

4. Let's just swap to photocard albums now

5. I like that we're seeing more and more albums without CDs now

6. There isn't a single fan who doesn't know they're churning them out at dirt-cheap prices... From now on, they should just release one version of the CD and make the album practical. Most fans probably don't have CD players

7. Even after all that, even when criticism arises about them releasing multiple albums, fans still fiercely defend them. They would probably stop if they at least got enough backlash, but their sycophants step up to act as a shield, so they never change

8. Can we make a rule that you can't get into fansigns from bulk buying

9. Let's just remove all photocards

10. Get rid of CDs and turn them into digital "physical albums"...

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