K-Pop Act Ateez Sells 223,000 Units, Outpacing Next 30 Bestsellers
K-pop group Ateez's new EP sold 223,000 US copies in its first week, underscoring the genre's unique ability to drive massive physical music revenue in a streaming-dominated market.
K-pop group Ateez has topped the US Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales charts with its latest release, "Golden Hour: Part.5," selling just under 223,000 copies in America during its first week. The performance completely eclipsed the rest of the market. The EP outsold the next 30 highest-ranking albums on the Top Album Sales chart combined, demonstrating a level of consumer spending concentration rarely seen in the current music landscape.
The scale of the group's commercial dominance is highlighted by its margin over major Western and domestic competitors. Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo’s album dropped to second place after selling 26,000 copies, meaning Ateez outpaced her by more than eight and a half times. The trailing cohort of 30 outsold albums included new releases from rock acts like Muse and The Pretty Reckless, country artist Cody Johnson, and a slate of premium K-pop peers such as BTS, Stray Kids, Le Sserafim, ZeroBaseOne, and Cortis.
For music industry executives and investors, the figures reinforce the exceptional, counter-cyclical monetization potential of the K-pop physical sales model. The 223,000 units comprised digital downloads, CDs, and vinyl. This points to a highly dedicated, collector-driven consumer base that continues to purchase physical products at a premium. This spending behavior contrasts sharply with the broader recorded music industry, where streaming subscriptions have largely eroded the per-user revenue generated by individual album purchases.
Ateez has now built a highly consistent track record for its label. "Golden Hour: Part.5" is the seventh title to reach No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart out of 14 total entries, with 10 releases cracking the top 10. Notably, all five parts of the Golden Hour series have hit No. 1 on this specific chart. The act also secured its eleventh No. 1 on the World Albums tally out of 19 appearances, all of which landed in the top 10.
The group's ascent has accelerated markedly since it began releasing projects in 2018. While it took a few years for Ateez to make a major impact on US charts, it now ranks among the most commercially successful K-pop names in the country. Despite the massive overall volume, vinyl specifically remains a smaller piece of the group's revenue mix, with the EP debuting at No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart rather than taking the top spot.
