In the first six months of the year, boy band EXO and girl group GFriend cemented their reputation at the top of the Kpop industry. The two acts topped album and digital rankings in that period, according to Gaon Chart, a week chart accumulated by the Korea Music Content Industry Association.
EXO managed to sell more than 452,000 albums. The all-male group released a new album called EX'ACT, and it debuted on the number one spot on the Album Chart Top 100. The group's third album managed had sold more than 235,000 units as of June 18.
Second on the spot is Bangtan Boys, popularly known as BTS. The group launched its album Young Forever to massive commercial success. Statistics reveal that more than 316,000 units of the album have been sold.
Seventeen in on the third spot, managing to sell around 200,000 units of its album.
In the latest data released by Gaon, eight albums were able to sell more than 100,000 copies. Joining the others on the list are Got7, VIXX, TWICE, and Taemin of SHINeee.
Jaejoon from JYJ released his solo album entitled No. X in February while he is on military duty. Despite the hurdles the artist has to face during this arduous time, his album managed to sell enough copies to take the ninth spot with 83,305 units sold.
The female artists' chart is dominated by GFriend following the release of the group's latest single, Rough, which is included in their latest album Snowflake. This Love by Davici, from the soundtrack of the film Descendants of the Sun, took the second spot. MC the Max's No Matter Where is ranked third and TWICE's album Cheer Up is in the fourth position.
Aside from domestic releases, a handful of international artists also made it to the Top 100 chart. Hello by Adele was ranked 54th on the list, while Love Yourself by Justin Bieber was ranked 71st.
