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NCT DREAM’s recent comeback with Beatbox caused quite the buzz on the internet recently. While the group made headlines for crossing 800k first-week sales, fans were upset over the numbers not surpassing one million. Their anger was directed towards Ktown4u, a popular e-commerce website.
One fan called out Ktown4u on theqoo, a popular South Korean online forum, for not counting approximately 200,000 album sales towards Hanteo Chart's first-week sales.
The incident arose as Chinese Fans Union, a fanclub that includes multiple fan sites (around eight) and takes group orders, brought it to fans' notice that a percentage of their pre-order albums were not reflected in the first-week sales of Hanteo despite Ktown4u assuring them otherwise.
NCT DREAM’s fans criticize Ktown4u for failing to cross one million first-week sales mark
NCT DREAM’s fandom had a goal of surpassing a minimum of one million first-week sales with the repackaged album, Beatbox. This was especially due to the group’s desire to earn that achievement with a repackaged album. However, the group recorded 848,367 sales in the first week of tracking.
As per the Chinese Fans Union and the netizens of the online forum, the numbers affected were due to retailer Ktown4u and the group’s agency, SM Entertainment.
Ktown4u allegedly assured the Chinese Fans Union that all pre-orders and sales in the first week will be reflected in the Hanteo Chart. This promise led to nearly eight fan sites hosting group orders of around 300,000 albums through the retailer.
However, Ktown4u could only sell 11,000 copies as quality issues arose. SM Entertainment withdrew a huge chunk of the albums, leading to on-hand albums at the retailer getting sold out instantly.
Additionally, they informed the Chinese Fans Union that only the number of albums sold would be reflected in Hanteo's first-week sales chart. The retailer could only count the albums once they were restocked, which would have arrived after the tracking period for the first week would have closed.
Meanwhile, fans grew suspicious of Ktown4u as they noticed that other retailers correctly reflected the pre-order numbers.
Pre-order sales, especially first-week sales, are an important part of the K-pop industry. It showcases the group’s popularity that makes enough people open up their pockets to buy albums.
Generally, before a comeback, a fandom makes a certain goal that includes album sales and digital streaming numbers.
Fans were disappointed that they couldn’t make Beatbox reach one million pre-order sales. NCT DREAM did achieve the second-highest number of first-week sales for a repackaged album with 848,367 orders.
The group was bested only by BTS, who amassed 868,052 sales for their 2018 repackaged album Love Yourself: Answer.
Moreover, Beatbox failed to break NCT DREAM’s previous first-week sales record of 1.4 million orders for Glitch Mode.
NCT DREAM's music video of Beatbox has already gained 45 million views on YouTube, showcasing fans' dedication to support and cheer for the group.
In other news, the group halted promotions as Chenlo and Jeno tested COVID positive on June 2.
