K-media is sounding alarms over the sharp drop in K-pop girl group chart dominance.
Hankook Ilbo reports only a handful of girl groups are standing out in 2025. Rookie co-ed group ALLDAY PROJECT’s "Famous" just topped the Melon Daily chart — a rare feat as girl groups once ruled the charts.
Only aespa and IVE are delivering strong digital chart results this year. According to data, just four girl groups cracked the top 10 in 25 weekly charts so far.
IVE led with “Rebel Heart” at number one and “Attitude” at number seven. aespa’s “Whiplash” remained in the top 10 for the first half of 2025, keeping girl group pride alive. Other groups barely made the top 10 or didn’t chart high at all.
This slump is massive compared to the peak just two to three years ago. In 2023, groups like NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX, aespa, and IVE fiercely competed, grabbing over half the top 10 spots. This year’s new girl groups from mid to major agencies haven’t made a big splash.
Album sales also show the girl group fandom expansion is stalling.
Experts say ongoing political issues and conflicts in the industry are dragging down interest in K-pop. Popular girl groups have entered a stable phase, lowering competition. The public’s fatigue over the HYBE–Min Hee Jin controversy is also hurting girl group attention.
Critic Jung Min Jae weighed in:
“Popular girl groups have failed to gain public attention by releasing stable results. It also seems that the interest in LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT has decreased due to the internal issues within HYBE.”
Critic Im Hee Yoon suggested a shift in cultural consumption might be to blame:
“I think the overall interest in K-Pop may have declined as there is a lot of content that can replace it, such as OTT, short-form music, and sports.
On music platforms, people are increasingly listening to songs by bands or solo artists, while K-Pop is increasingly consuming short-form formats such as challenges. So, the overall music consumption trends may not be reflected in the charts.”
