no just one version with the ability to choose which photocards you want. stop the randomness and the need for more versions. Literally just there for more money for the company and for the charts. Should be one version, one choosable photocard or more then 1 and also no pre order benefits. Should also be as cheap in europe and the usa as it it is to south korea. shouldnt be 30-100 for an album its crazy and scummy
I definitely feels like we should add the amount of pre order benefits albums come from sales are also insane now more than before. Fans buy from different branch stores to get these pob photocards as well. Some people bulk buy and others don't.
ITS THE PHOTOCARDS😭 ESPECIALLY THE LUCKY DRAW, TARGET EXCLUSIVE, HELLO82, BARNES & NOBLES EXCLUSIVE SHIT INCLUSIONS & THE NEVER ENDING PRE-ORDER BENEFITS😭. WE HAVE WEVERSE, M2U, WITHMUU AND MANY MORE! ITS JUST SO FUCKING EXPENSIVE
Ooof, I bought a full set of five Face the Sun albums…. Then I got three carat versions. And I’m now a photocard collector. They’re so pretty and I like looking at them, but I refuse to go into debt over this hobby.
Now, I only buy one physical copy of a group I ult or if I also really like that artist's music. It's true how pricey albums can be whether it's smaller artist or a popular one. Thanks again for this series, Fran. ❤️🥰✌️
I wish I was strong enough to only buy one copy ahah! I usually try to but then when it comes to ults, it's soo easy to get carried away 🙈 thank you so much!😁💖
Super interesting video! I never considered buying a kpop album until I got into my ult group and I had to have a word with myself not to go mad buying them. As I've got older I can't justify the cost. It's easy to see how it can get a bit out of hand as it is super fun opening them and collecting photocards
Another reason as to why sales back in the day weren't as high despite having lesser kpop fans: People were actually caring for and critical of the music they were choosing to reward. Kpop was a very elitist club and while we would verbally uplift every single group, it was definitely a privilege for the artist if their music was actually being purchased because the music was actually worth the hassle of buying.
whats ironic is if you back away far enough, you would see that the music part nowadays has become just a side thing. it exists. its serviceable. some are better than others. but they are not as big of a factor anymore as people would say im not saying any "it used to be better back then" thingie.. im just saying that the focus is lesser on the music itself. but, people would ofcourse not admit that that a bad thing or good thing? its whatver the individual enjoys more..
What I choose to do nowadays is get one of very version, but all at a different store. For example, I collect Stray Kids so I got every version of Rock Star, but getting each one at a different store made it so I could get a bunch of the different preorder benefits. Then once the albums actually arrive I'd know what they look like (since during preorder period they tend to blur most of the design aspects). Once I know what they look like, I resell the albums without photocards for quite cheap and only keep 1 for myself that I like the most. Meanwhile for groups I don't collect photocards of, I actually do the opposite, and wait until after release to buy the album without photocards second hand for cheap from someone who does the same thing I do for stray kids, but with other groups. This does somewhat make the wasteful aspect of the physical albums smaller. Less albums to be ditched on a landfill by bulk buyers who buy 100s of copies of the album just for the photocards or preorder benefits, cause someone will want to just have the album with the cd and photobook and buy them. I'd truly recommend doing this to anyone who doesn't collect photocards, as for ANY group there's people out there selling emptied albums for very cheap. It'd save you money, and it'd save the enviorment by not creating more waste
Looove your vids 💗 Agreed, bulk buying is a huge issue. The way we can so easily find empty albums resold on Vinted (for example), for literally nothing bc people only wanted the PCs or inclusions and to make numbers for the artist... Like for 2€ I could complete the missing album from one era, for 15€ I found all 3 normal versions of an album, with inc+poster and ofc just missing the PCs.
haven't watched yet but i'm blaming photocard collecters/sellers for this, some of them happen to overlook the actual art which is the music (literally what an album is about) just for some cardboard thingies, and obviously the companies encourage this by releasing a ridiculous amount of pob pcs, target exclusives, lucky draws, hello82, etc in order to get more sales. and it genuinely upsets me cus no one seems to care about the music anymore.
Dreamcatcher's upcoming comeback... I'm only buying the limited version this time but I feel like DCC (their company) f up this time💀 Many of us thought it'd finally be 2 ver. again, like we have had some years ago but lmao we were so wrong. Also, I love getting albums when I listen to them 24/7 but also when the concept/design is amazing (like Key's latest albums). I had tried to collect (PCs) when I was I a dark time of my life and compulsive buying "helped" but it's expensive and time consuming so now I just get the album inclusions + POB (if there is) but I stop myself from getting the 10000 and counting photocards there is each comeback for all the groups I love...
@chuuwantsomeofthis 😭 And, as I'm no longer on twitter, I have not seen what others think but most of us will get the limited one right? I don't feel like the normal versions are that popular this time 😕 Like, I know they want to keep the "Word spelling albums" going, CURSE this time but it isn't always necessary, they could have stopped this as we're getting a new era...
@@yourppsmall4576 still "12 versions" of the album is insane💀 if only the inclusions were actually worth the price and if they went for something different for the "platform" versions 😕 Especially with the Apocalypse era's message, many are just as mad as when DCC suddenly tried to sell NFTs🤡, and they're right (and if you add the numerous PCs we got the latest eras/comebacks 🤪)
@@multinsomnia5455 I agree but also it's really simple to just not buying them. I've also noticed this fan's obsession over collecting every single pc from every single album which attracts company to make more versions and to be more greedy
@@yourppsmall4576 Oh ofc I agree! If companies keep making more of, especially PCs, it's because supply and demand work together... as long as people buy their products they'll obviously continue making just as much or more.
I think they could make different digital versions and include different photocards digitally like some online collectable card games (e.g. magic: the gathering, hearthstone, etc.). There would still be huge sales (potentially even more since it would cut shipping and production costs) and no physical footprint. I'd be more interested personally. I sometimes am tempted to buy just for the simple reason that some songs aren't even released digitally, only on the physical cds...but I don't for all the reasons you listed in this video (especially the environmental impact). Love your channel and your videos.
Yeah for me i only buy one album mostly cause i like whatever version the most but i dont from groups where i dont think its worth like having 4 songs cause i use my cd player but also little photocards i love Twice albums cause you get around 5-6 and then if you buy from target or pre order you get plus 9. Its important to set some limits for yourself
For me I have really many albums and not only of my favs actually my fav group is Seventeen and I have „just“ three albums. I have like 20 albums of Got7 and their not even in my ults. But the point of this is that I don‘t anymore buy albums myself I buy them from people who already used them and don‘t want them anymore. So it‘s easier for them to get away their albums and cheaper for me to buy albums. Of course you‘re not gonna get the albums you would like to always but I think it‘s really cool to get to know more groups especially with mystery box‘s. So if you want more albums and don‘t wanna hurt the environment you can try that too. ^^
I only buy 1 album ver I don't get the purpose of buying too much Also the way people are ordering so many copies kinda creeps me out like there is like 1000383 ver alrdy and you buy like 37393838393839 more???
RIGHT! buying all versions is understandable but i only get one (either my favorite version or the only one available when i purchased the album) it just seems unnecessary to me bc why would i want dupes 😭
I’ve seen many unboxing of albums as most of people probably did, and noticed the obscene amount of different albums from different groups people collect. It sometimes goes up to +10 groups, which I find insane. I can understand that you don’t limit yourself to listening to 2 or 3 artists (I myself don’t) but collecting EVERY single collectibles from +10 groups (it sometimes goes up to collecting each members) seems unhealthy to me, especially since we have digital albums, we can basically listen to music whenever we want which was not the case in the late 20th century thus people had huge albums collections and tapes. Now, don’t come at me, I also _did_ buy albums, but not in an obscene amount (I only have -maybe- seven albums?). But they are albums from two groups I love only, and I would never have bought other groups/ artists I listened to casually, even if I loved the whole album because I knew it was pointless. Even with my favorite groups I’ve never felt this _need_ to buy their albums and actually regret buying some, this feeling being emphasized by seeing people bulk buying albums for a f****** piece of cardboard- what the hell?? At least I listen to the CD inside the album but I just hate the idea of contributing into this distorted industry that is album buying. So I decided not to get albums anymore. Also, I hate the fact that the idols are also kind of contributing to this whole mess since they rarely speak up or try to change anything about this, and I know, you might say "but they can’t speak up freely" but I think they can. The industries are nothing, NOTHING, without their artists, as well as fans. Nope, argue with the wall but it’s the artist that makes the industry not the industry that makes the artist, and it’s the artist that makes the fans, not the fans that makes the artist. The artists have the power. So yeah, idols could totally boycott this whole photo card thing or pressure the industries into saying they would leave if they don’t something immediately (which would make the industry lose money- depending on the popularity of the idol/ group). And by _something_ here, I’m talking about doing one version per album *only*, including all the members’ photo cards. That way, POBs would be more "healthy" too : you would get a special POB set if you pre-ordered the album, and if you don’t, well, sorry for you, but at least you would still get a whole set, you know what I mean? Which would also make the whole collection thing alive again, as POBs would actually be the only thing that would differentiate collectors from casual fans, what do you think about this? So, yeah, albums are a no-no for me now, instead, I’ll probably buy season’s greetings and deco kits as there are only one per year, which would take ten years just to have ten boxes. Also, you get so much merch that it is worth it in my opinion. And you might be like : "Yeah but aren’t there photo cards in those as well?" Yeah, but often you literally get sets of all the group so you don’t need to buy ten copies to get the whole set- which is a lot healthier, plus you get stationary which is actually something useful compared to an album’s photo book, don’t you think? Oh, and I might have seem pretty aggressive but I’m just disgusted and disappointed, as I genuinely just educated myself on this whole consumerism-situation about- three weeks ago. I wanted to add this here too but please don’t throw away albums or merchandise if you want to get rid of them instead if you can, just give away, it’s a lot better than throwing or re-selling, especially if the albums or whatever are still being printed. Seeing a smile on the face of the person you just gave it to is then times worth it, I promise. Thanks for reading until the end and I hope you’ll live a simple and happy life H
What bothers me is that people completely loss whole albums for the sake of photo cards. Imo these should be separate. It's also a slap in the face for kpop fans in general if people no longer care about the actual music anymore. Even more insulting to artists.
I swear three versions should be the max
I like this idea!!
no just one version with the ability to choose which photocards you want. stop the randomness and the need for more versions. Literally just there for more money for the company and for the charts. Should be one version, one choosable photocard or more then 1 and also no pre order benefits. Should also be as cheap in europe and the usa as it it is to south korea. shouldnt be 30-100 for an album its crazy and
scummy
I definitely feels like we should add the amount of pre order benefits albums come from sales are also insane now more than before. Fans buy from different branch stores to get these pob photocards as well. Some people bulk buy and others don't.
ITS THE PHOTOCARDS😭 ESPECIALLY THE LUCKY DRAW, TARGET EXCLUSIVE, HELLO82, BARNES & NOBLES EXCLUSIVE SHIT INCLUSIONS & THE NEVER ENDING PRE-ORDER BENEFITS😭. WE HAVE WEVERSE, M2U, WITHMUU AND MANY MORE! ITS JUST SO FUCKING EXPENSIVE
I have had to cut back on my album buying. Its about showing my support and love. I have a lot of collection, and its showing "This is special to me"
Ooof, I bought a full set of five Face the Sun albums…. Then I got three carat versions. And I’m now a photocard collector. They’re so pretty and I like looking at them, but I refuse to go into debt over this hobby.
This TXT comeback there were 5 or 6 in person fansigns all being hosted by different music stores and bookstores here in Korea, it was ridiculous.
first, i haven't even watched yet but parasocial are fueling all of these.
thank you so much for watching so soon! you're right, it will absolutely play a huge part in all this
Now, I only buy one physical copy of a group I ult or if I also really like that artist's music. It's true how pricey albums can be whether it's smaller artist or a popular one. Thanks again for this series, Fran. ❤️🥰✌️
I wish I was strong enough to only buy one copy ahah! I usually try to but then when it comes to ults, it's soo easy to get carried away 🙈 thank you so much!😁💖
Super interesting video! I never considered buying a kpop album until I got into my ult group and I had to have a word with myself not to go mad buying them. As I've got older I can't justify the cost. It's easy to see how it can get a bit out of hand as it is super fun opening them and collecting photocards
Another reason as to why sales back in the day weren't as high despite having lesser kpop fans: People were actually caring for and critical of the music they were choosing to reward. Kpop was a very elitist club and while we would verbally uplift every single group, it was definitely a privilege for the artist if their music was actually being purchased because the music was actually worth the hassle of buying.
whats ironic is if you back away far enough, you would see that the music part nowadays has become just a side thing.
it exists. its serviceable. some are better than others. but they are not as big of a factor anymore as people would say
im not saying any "it used to be better back then" thingie.. im just saying that the focus is lesser on the music itself. but, people would ofcourse not admit that
that a bad thing or good thing? its whatver the individual enjoys more..
What I choose to do nowadays is get one of very version, but all at a different store. For example, I collect Stray Kids so I got every version of Rock Star, but getting each one at a different store made it so I could get a bunch of the different preorder benefits. Then once the albums actually arrive I'd know what they look like (since during preorder period they tend to blur most of the design aspects). Once I know what they look like, I resell the albums without photocards for quite cheap and only keep 1 for myself that I like the most. Meanwhile for groups I don't collect photocards of, I actually do the opposite, and wait until after release to buy the album without photocards second hand for cheap from someone who does the same thing I do for stray kids, but with other groups.
This does somewhat make the wasteful aspect of the physical albums smaller. Less albums to be ditched on a landfill by bulk buyers who buy 100s of copies of the album just for the photocards or preorder benefits, cause someone will want to just have the album with the cd and photobook and buy them. I'd truly recommend doing this to anyone who doesn't collect photocards, as for ANY group there's people out there selling emptied albums for very cheap. It'd save you money, and it'd save the enviorment by not creating more waste
Looove your vids 💗
Agreed, bulk buying is a huge issue. The way we can so easily find empty albums resold on Vinted (for example), for literally nothing bc people only wanted the PCs or inclusions and to make numbers for the artist...
Like for 2€ I could complete the missing album from one era, for 15€ I found all 3 normal versions of an album, with inc+poster and ofc just missing the PCs.
Fr like i could get all the ver for just a few bucks w/o the photocard but then 1 photocard cost more than paying all the ver
haven't watched yet but i'm blaming photocard collecters/sellers for this, some of them happen to overlook the actual art which is the music (literally what an album is about) just for some cardboard thingies, and obviously the companies encourage this by releasing a ridiculous amount of pob pcs, target exclusives, lucky draws, hello82, etc in order to get more sales. and it genuinely upsets me cus no one seems to care about the music anymore.
the way i knew ma`am was gonna say svt before she said svt, cause bestie same
legit they get me every time 😭🥺
Dreamcatcher's upcoming comeback... I'm only buying the limited version this time but I feel like DCC (their company) f up this time💀 Many of us thought it'd finally be 2 ver. again, like we have had some years ago but lmao we were so wrong.
Also, I love getting albums when I listen to them 24/7 but also when the concept/design is amazing (like Key's latest albums).
I had tried to collect (PCs) when I was I a dark time of my life and compulsive buying "helped" but it's expensive and time consuming so now I just get the album inclusions + POB (if there is) but I stop myself from getting the 10000 and counting photocards there is each comeback for all the groups I love...
@chuuwantsomeofthis 😭
And, as I'm no longer on twitter, I have not seen what others think but most of us will get the limited one right? I don't feel like the normal versions are that popular this time 😕
Like, I know they want to keep the "Word spelling albums" going, CURSE this time but it isn't always necessary, they could have stopped this as we're getting a new era...
I think the company is trying to hit that 1 million mark( they're really close ), that's why there are so many versions
@@yourppsmall4576 still "12 versions" of the album is insane💀 if only the inclusions were actually worth the price and if they went for something different for the "platform" versions 😕
Especially with the Apocalypse era's message, many are just as mad as when DCC suddenly tried to sell NFTs🤡, and they're right (and if you add the numerous PCs we got the latest eras/comebacks 🤪)
@@multinsomnia5455 I agree but also it's really simple to just not buying them. I've also noticed this fan's obsession over collecting every single pc from every single album which attracts company to make more versions and to be more greedy
@@yourppsmall4576 Oh ofc I agree! If companies keep making more of, especially PCs, it's because supply and demand work together... as long as people buy their products they'll obviously continue making just as much or more.
I think they could make different digital versions and include different photocards digitally like some online collectable card games (e.g. magic: the gathering, hearthstone, etc.). There would still be huge sales (potentially even more since it would cut shipping and production costs) and no physical footprint. I'd be more interested personally. I sometimes am tempted to buy just for the simple reason that some songs aren't even released digitally, only on the physical cds...but I don't for all the reasons you listed in this video (especially the environmental impact). Love your channel and your videos.
Yeah for me i only buy one album mostly cause i like whatever version the most but i dont from groups where i dont think its worth like having 4 songs cause i use my cd player but also little photocards i love Twice albums cause you get around 5-6 and then if you buy from target or pre order you get plus 9. Its important to set some limits for yourself
Besides, in some countries there are no physical album stores, like mine 😅 I think in most countries, actually
For me I have really many albums and not only of my favs actually my fav group is Seventeen and I have „just“ three albums. I have like 20 albums of Got7 and their not even in my ults. But the point of this is that I don‘t anymore buy albums myself I buy them from people who already used them and don‘t want them anymore. So it‘s easier for them to get away their albums and cheaper for me to buy albums. Of course you‘re not gonna get the albums you would like to always but I think it‘s really cool to get to know more groups especially with mystery box‘s. So if you want more albums and don‘t wanna hurt the environment you can try that too. ^^
I only buy 1 album ver
I don't get the purpose of buying too much
Also the way people are ordering so many copies kinda creeps me out like there is like 1000383 ver alrdy and you buy like 37393838393839 more???
RIGHT! buying all versions is understandable but i only get one (either my favorite version or the only one available when i purchased the album) it just seems unnecessary to me bc why would i want dupes 😭
@@neobongzzz exactly when you could be spending that on diff album
I actually do listen to my cds but I still try to only buy one album per comeback
I’ve seen many unboxing of albums as most of people probably did, and noticed the obscene amount of different albums from different groups people collect. It sometimes goes up to +10 groups, which I find insane.
I can understand that you don’t limit yourself to listening to 2 or 3 artists (I myself don’t) but collecting EVERY single collectibles from +10 groups (it sometimes goes up to collecting each members) seems unhealthy to me, especially since we have digital albums, we can basically listen to music whenever we want which was not the case in the late 20th century thus people had huge albums collections and tapes.
Now, don’t come at me, I also _did_ buy albums, but not in an obscene amount (I only have -maybe- seven albums?). But they are albums from two groups I love only, and I would never have bought other groups/ artists I listened to casually, even if I loved the whole album because I knew it was pointless. Even with my favorite groups I’ve never felt this _need_ to buy their albums and actually regret buying some, this feeling being emphasized by seeing people bulk buying albums for a f****** piece of cardboard- what the hell??
At least I listen to the CD inside the album but I just hate the idea of contributing into this distorted industry that is album buying. So I decided not to get albums anymore.
Also, I hate the fact that the idols are also kind of contributing to this whole mess since they rarely speak up or try to change anything about this, and I know, you might say "but they can’t speak up freely" but I think they can. The industries are nothing, NOTHING, without their artists, as well as fans. Nope, argue with the wall but it’s the artist that makes the industry not the industry that makes the artist, and it’s the artist that makes the fans, not the fans that makes the artist. The artists have the power. So yeah, idols could totally boycott this whole photo card thing or pressure the industries into saying they would leave if they don’t something immediately (which would make the industry lose money- depending on the popularity of the idol/ group).
And by _something_ here, I’m talking about doing one version per album *only*, including all the members’ photo cards. That way, POBs would be more "healthy" too : you would get a special POB set if you pre-ordered the album, and if you don’t, well, sorry for you, but at least you would still get a whole set, you know what I mean? Which would also make the whole collection thing alive again, as POBs would actually be the only thing that would differentiate collectors from casual fans, what do you think about this?
So, yeah, albums are a no-no for me now, instead, I’ll probably buy season’s greetings and deco kits as there are only one per year, which would take ten years just to have ten boxes. Also, you get so much merch that it is worth it in my opinion. And you might be like : "Yeah but aren’t there photo cards in those as well?" Yeah, but often you literally get sets of all the group so you don’t need to buy ten copies to get the whole set- which is a lot healthier, plus you get stationary which is actually something useful compared to an album’s photo book, don’t you think?
Oh, and I might have seem pretty aggressive but I’m just disgusted and disappointed, as I genuinely just educated myself on this whole consumerism-situation about- three weeks ago.
I wanted to add this here too but please don’t throw away albums or merchandise if you want to get rid of them instead if you can, just give away, it’s a lot better than throwing or re-selling, especially if the albums or whatever are still being printed. Seeing a smile on the face of the person you just gave it to is then times worth it, I promise.
Thanks for reading until the end and I hope you’ll live a simple and happy life
H
What bothers me is that people completely loss whole albums for the sake of photo cards. Imo these should be separate.
It's also a slap in the face for kpop fans in general if people no longer care about the actual music anymore. Even more insulting to artists.
I was completely confused when I bought Face the Sun - I was certain I bought the right one........
If it helps I also thought you picked up the right one, maybe we're both just blind 🤔
It’s like cheating where one person buy 3 versions. Then what they do with the 3 same cd. Like JK’s golden albums left in the washroom to give away.
I don't buy kpop albums because its just to costly for me
that's completely understandable, honestly it adds up so fast!
Same i can't buy albums too because i don't even have a decent income to spend on myself rather than these albums
does it have to be a kpop specific store? or like any