[The Value of an Album 2] Keyrings, Earphones, and Even Sneakers... Music to Enjoy While Using

The experience of listening to music on CD itself as a product"No limits on platforms that contain music"K-pop albums are evolving from packages containing music to products used in daily life. Pictured are aespa CDP albums, NMIXX MP3 albums, NCT JNJM Converse albums, KickFlip camera albums, CORTIS singing bowl albums, ILLIT earphone albums and gua sha ceramic albums, and NCT WISH WICHU albums, CORTIS lip balm albums. (From top left, clockwise) / Each agencyAlbums that used to contain music have become products that contain fan affection, and behind them, excessive consumption and environmental issues have accumulated. Now, albums are becoming keychains, earphones, and sneakers, entering fans' daily lives. Is it just the form that has changed, or has the value contained within also changed? We looked into the current evolution from listening albums to collecting albums to using albums, and explored the possibilities for the future. [THE FACT | Reporter Jung Byung-geun] Dangling a keychain on a bag, listening to music with earphones, applying lip balm, and going out wearing sneakers. These are common actions in daily life, but they have something in common: they are all possible through albums of favorite singers. K-pop albums are evolving from packages containing music to products used in daily life.Recently, MERCH albums are appearing one after another, mainly from large entertainment companies. Merch is an abbreviation of Merchandise, which generally refers to goods related to artists or brands. Merch albums are products that combine music content with this. They allow fans to listen to the artist's music and can also be used as keychains, earphones, or fashion accessories.These attempts are not entirely new. NCT WISH, under SM Entertainment (SM), released the WICHU version in the form of a character keychain when they released their single 'WISH' in March 2024. It is a smart album where music can be enjoyed via NFC instead of a CD. The album purchase included a keychain and photocards.NCT WISH later introduced a camera-shaped keychain in their first mini-album 'Steady' in the same year, and a new WICHU album including a bag in their second mini-album 'poppop' in 2025. This method increases the product value of WICHU itself by connecting the artist's character to the album and continuously expanding it.aespa increased the extensibility of merch albums with their first full album 'Armageddon' released in May 2024. They released a special version including a transparent CD player, wired earphones, and photocards. The price was 145,000 won, much more expensive than a typical album, but it was considered quite reasonable considering the player, and it sold out instantly during the pre-sale.This is a case of making the experience of listening to music on CD itself a product. It is significant in that it transformed the CD player, whose usage has decreased in the digital music era, into a special item that fans want to own.Kim Wook, General Director of SM Creative 2 Center's Creative Visuals, Jo Woo-sik, Jo Soo-yeon, and Lee Ji-hong said, "Rather than simply increasing the components, we wanted to present new possibilities by adding SM's unique creativity to the form that best suits the album's concept. As fans' tastes and consumption patterns diversify, we will continue to release albums with differentiated value while preserving the artist's identity."In 2025, these attempts expanded into even more diverse areas. JYP Entertainment's (NMIXX) included a 16GB MP3 player in the Shell version of their fourth mini-album 'Fe3O4: FORWARD'. One of six designs created by each member was randomly provided, along with photocards and digital photos.ILLIT, under HYBE's Belift Lab, introduced earphones as a merch version of their third mini-album 'bomb' in June 2025. The earphones were bundled with decorative sticker parts, photocards, and a mini CD. This album also received an explosive response, leading to additional production after the initial stock.In their single 'NOT CUTE ANYMORE' released in November of the same year, they combined the album with a pouch collaborated with the fashion brand Ashley Williams and a doll keychain using the character Little Mimi. Through merch albums, they expanded fans' experiences to fashion and character products, as well as music.The variety continues to increase. Hearts2Hearts released a version combining a heart-shaped locket necklace with NFC in their first mini-album 'FOCUS', and RESCENE released a version combining a QR code with lip balm in their third mini-album 'lip bomb'. Recently, NCT unit NCT JNJM combined their first mini-album 'BOTH SIDES' with Converse sneakers that can actually be worn and NFC.Merch albums connect the act of listening to music with daily consumption by reflecting music, concepts, and the artist's character in actual products. This narrows the distance between artists and fans. The photo shows a group picture of singers who appeared at the '2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS' held last September. / Reporter Park Heon-wooHYBE's Big Hit Music also added a lip balm version in collaboration with the cosmetics brand Torriden to CORTIS's second mini-album 'GREENGREEN' released in June 2026. The album's scope was expanded to beauty products by bundling lip balm, a mini CD, and photocards.KickFlip included a digital camera in the limited edition when they released their fourth mini-album 'My First Kick' last April. By combining a camera, which has no direct connection to music, with an album, they expanded the artist's domain into fans' daily lives. This shows a move towards connecting the act of recording one's daily life with the artist's products.A JYP representative explained, "Music is deeply integrated into daily life, so we do not set limits on platforms that contain music. We seek practical and experiential methods that allow fans to visually experience and coexist with music in their daily lives, tailored to the artist's musical direction. The top priority is 'how intuitively and authentically the album concept and worldview can be visualized.'"As such, the characteristic of merch albums is not merely providing new items. By reflecting the album's music, concept, and artist's character in actual products, they connect the act of listening to music with daily consumption.This characteristic can also be confirmed in fan reactions. On the overseas online community Reddit, reviews evaluating sound quality and fit appeared along with praise for the design of ILLIT's earphone album. This shows that the product itself is becoming an important purchasing criterion, beyond just having the singer's face or name on it.A HYBE representative said, "Merch albums are planned so that artists' music and album concepts can be enjoyed in daily life. We aimed to add the fun of actually using the product to the joy of listening to and collecting albums. We are focusing on providing fans with a new album experience by embodying the music's message or musical concept in products that can be used in daily life."The intention and planning reached the fans. aespa's CD player album generated buzz from the pre-sale stage, and ILLIT's earphone album underwent additional production. NMIXX's MP3 player album and CORTIS's lip balm album are also sold out at some major retailers. This demonstrates the potential of merch albums.This change aligns with how fans consume their favorite artists. While in the past, albums and photocards were kept in personal spaces, now fans can naturally express their tastes by using items containing symbols of their favorite singers in their daily lives. Keychains attached to bags or earphones used daily become a medium representing fandom identity.General albums tend to focus consumption on the act of purchasing at the time of release. In contrast, merch albums allow fans to experience a connection with the artist even after purchase, through the process of using the product. The cost paid by fans includes not only the price for possessing music or components but also the satisfaction gained from using the product.Merch albums are still in their infancy. Whether they can establish themselves as a new product category and become a new driving force for the growth of the album market remains to be seen. However, it is clear that the possibilities for physical albums are expanding with the emergence of albums for daily use, following albums for listening and collecting. [Album Value 1] Selling 100 Million CDs Without Listening... The Paradox[Album Value 3] How MP3s, Sneakers, and Gua Sha Ceramics Came to Be[Album Value 4] Beyond Fan Affection to Marketability... The Evolution Continueskafka@tf.co.kr[Entertainment Department | ssent@tf.co.kr]