ATEEZ Is The Only Non-“Big Four” K-Pop Artist To Be In The Top 10 Best-Selling Artists On Hanteo

Back in October, we wrote about ATEEZ being the only non-“Big Four” K-Pop artist to rank within the top 14 best-selling artists on Hanteo at the time. The “Big Four” labels include SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and HYBE Labels, and are generally seen as the most successful K-Pop companies with large budgets to spend on new artists to give them an advantage in the industry from the start.

Because of their well-known status and high profit numbers, the “Big Four” labels overall have most of the top-selling artists in the industry. Of course, they also have very talented K-Pop groups and great music, but there’s no denying that they have the benefit of being major labels!

That’s why the fact that ATEEZ, from the still relatively small label KQ Entertainment, is now in the top ten best-selling artists ever according to Hanteo is a pretty big deal.

It’s even more impressive when you learn that their first album, TREASURE EP.1: All to Zero, made only 430 sales in the first day, and 5,200 sales in its first week. KQ Entertainment was not a well-known company at that time, and ATEEZ could have ended up going the sad route that so many small-label artists do by disbanding only a year or two into their career.

But of course, that didn’t happen. Through their fantastic music, incredible stage presence, and endearing personalities, ATEEZ quickly grew their fandom — a large portion of which is international — and it continues to only grow bigger as time passes. Their best-selling album, The World EP.1: MOVEMENT, currently has just over 1.00 million sales, and was released back in July 2022. After their highly successful world tour, The Fellowship: Break the Wall, it’s very likely that their next album will easily break their past record.

At this time, according to Hanteo, ATEEZ has made a total of 3,753,802 album sales, ranking them at #10 in the best-selling K-Pop artist list.

They’ll undoubtedly surpass the four million mark after their next album comes out, which is incredible for an artist who came from such humble beginnings!

Through the hard work of ATEEZ’s members and everyone who supports them, they’ve earned the popularity and adoration from millions that they deserve. And we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next!