SuperM Gets Called Out By Western News Sites For Album Controversy

SuperM has recently been under fire for their album selling controversy which resulted them in being the first K-Pop act to debut in the Number 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Western news sites have been calling out the group’s bundling tactics that they used to gain the top spot.

.American site, The New York Times, called out SuperM in an article for being able to sell 164,000 albums with only 4.9 million streams.

The boy band’s “The 1st Mini Album ‘SuperM’” arrived with packaging variations and bundles, resulting in a strong debut sales week, but modest streaming numbers.

– The New York Times

RollingStone. meanwhile, reported on SuperM’s main competitor, Summer Walker, encouraging her fans to continue streaming her song “Over It” to no avail:

But in the end, the marketing strategy pursued by SuperM, which emphasized bundles and physical copies, swamped Walker’s stream count.

– The RollingStone

BuzzfeedNews even commented on the issue, saying that the album sales of SuperM were “almost unheard of” in a time where digital streaming remains king.

SuperM prepared over 60 merchandise/album bundles available for fans to purchase on their official website, including a variety of posters and collectible cards. They also had a ticket/album sale redemption for their arena tour and eight variations of the album itself.