This year, girl groups have been showing strength in the music market during the first half, especially compared to the same period last year. Notably, according to Circle Charts, not a single male artist including Kim Min-seok, Lim Young-woong, BIGBANG, MeloMance, and Lee Mu-jin, who were in the Top 10 during the same period last year, made it to the Top 10 in the first half of this year.

A look at the digital chart rankings for the first half shows that NewJeans took first place with 'Ditto,' second with 'OMG,' third with 'Hype Boy,' and seventh with 'Attention.' In addition, IVE recorded fifth place with 'I AM,' sixth with 'Kitsch,' and eighth with 'After LIKE.' ANTIFRAGILE by Le Sserafim ranked ninth. Additionally, the Top 10 included 'Event Horizon' by Younha and 'Teddy Bear' by STAYC.

In this chart's Top 10, all but one spot was taken by girl groups, excluding Younha. In a study of artists' music market shares, Newzins had a total of 7 songs within the Top 400, recording a combined market share of 6.6%. This surpasses IU, who had dominated the music market previously. In addition, IVE, Le Sserafim, (G)I-DLE, aespa, BLACKPINK, and STAYC were among the top names in this study.

The rise of girl groups in the music market paints a different picture from the album market. In the album market, girl groups accounted for 31% of the Top 10 artists in terms of sales, maintaining a significant proportion of the total album sales as of last year. However, album rankings were overwhelmingly high for boy groups such as SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

What's worth noting here is the consumption purpose of albums and music. Album consumption is heavily influenced by fandom, either in the form of goods or for the purpose of raising rankings. In contrast, music is consumed not only for the purpose of raising rankings by fandoms but also by the general public who actually listen to music. This demonstrates that the influence of girl groups' songs is growing in terms of music.

Some voices express concern about the market's reliance on girl groups. The consumption of girl group music, which mainly occurs domestically or within Asia, could potentially hinder global growth encompassing North America and Europe.

However, others in the industry argue that the variety of music offered by girl groups will compete in the global market beyond Asia, including North America and Europe. Indeed, the music presented by so-called fourth-generation girl groups such as Newzins, Leseraphim, IVE, and (G)I-DLE, is very distinct to each group.

An industry insider noted, "What we should pay attention to is that it's not one group achieving overwhelming results, but the girl group market as a whole is enjoying unprecedented prosperity. This was made possible because recent fourth-generation girl groups each have their own identity and musical style." They added, "In the global market, there's a tendency to categorize K-pop as one genre, but the musical diversity of these groups will garner attention for K-pop."

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