While most music stocks have posted gains over the last two months, or at least have treaded water, K-pop stocks are floundering in the closing stretch of 2023.  

Four South Korean music companies — HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment — had an average loss of 13.3% this week and have fallen an average of 21.4% in the last eight weeks. SM Entertainment has performed particularly poorly, falling 29.4% in eight weeks. Those losses occurred despite a rally two weeks ago after South Korean regulators’ ban on short selling until 2024 sparked a surge in the country’s stock prices.

Elsewhere, music stocks are generally surging in late 2023. Non-Korean stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index have gained an average of 9.1% over the last eight weeks. Only two of those 18 stocks — iHeartMedia and Deezer — have suffered double-digit losses, and 11 of the 18 have posted gains over those eight weeks. Companies’ latest earnings reports have been mostly positive. Stocks also reflect both investors’ enthusiasm for music industry trends and larger macroeconomic trends such as a slowdown in inflation and an expectation that central banks will stop hiking interest rates. 

While South Korea’s KOSPI composite index has held steady over the last 8 weeks with a 0.2% gain, South Korean music companies have suffered from a string of headline-grabbing news that appears to have dampened demand for their stocks and eroded what were large year-to-date gains. This week, a Kakao executive was arrested for allegedly manipulating SM Entertainment’s stock price to help Kakao beat out HYBE to become the K-pop agency’s largest shareholder. In previous weeks, K-pop stocks faltered when a member of the group EXO broke away from SM Entertainment, and also when G-Dragon, a member of the YG group BIGBANG, was arrested on charges of illegal drug use. 

Even after the eight-week decline, the four K-pop companies have an average year-to-date gain of 20.2%. Non-Korean stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index have an average gain of 6% this year (excluding Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which spun off from Sphere in April). 

The Billboard Global Music Index rose 2.6% to 1,426.49 this week, falling just 1.4% shy of the all-time high of 1,447.32 set on July 21. The index has had a remarkable three-week run, gaining 9.3% since Oct. 27 and erasing most of a 9.9% decline since the July 21 peak. Its year-to-date gain stands at 22.1%.

Music stocks outperformed many other major indexes this week. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite gained 2.4% and the S&P 500 improved 2.2%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 2%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2.5%.

One of this week’s biggest gainers, iHeartMedia, rose 25.4% to $2.52 after the company announced a multi-year podcast partnership deal with Global, a U.K.-based media company, that will make iHeartMedia’s podcasts available on Global’s podcast player and its digital advertising exchange. Perhaps more importantly, CEO Bob Pittman purchased 100,000 iHeartMedia shares on Tuesday (Nov. 14), according to an SEC filing, at an average price of $2.06 per share. At Friday’s closing price, Pittman’s investment has already gained over 22%. 

Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami gained 27.2% to $1.17 — the latest in a series of large fluctuations since September. In October, the company was warned of a potential de-listing for failing to trade above $1. At the time, Anghami shares were trading at $0.82. Over the next five weeks, the share price gained 42.2% without an earnings report, news release or management change that would typically coincide with such a large swing.

Shares of SiriusXM rose 9.7% to $5.08 after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed on Tuesday that it purchased nearly 9.7 million shares with a market value of approximately $44 million. Investors pay close attention to the famous stock picker, who is known for seeking undervalued companies with competitive advantages (Berkshire Hathaway has large stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Kraft Heinz, among other public companies). In May, Capital One Financial shares jumped 13.5% on news that Berkshire Hathaway bought a $900 million stake.  

Warner Music Group fell 2.6% to $31.81 after reporting earnings for its fiscal year on Thursday. Tencent Music Entertainment, which announced it had reached 103 million subscribers in its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, gained 13.6% to $8.37.

Coming, up German concert promoter CTS Eventim will report third-quarter earnings on Tuesday (Nov. 21). 

The 2023 Jingle Ball Pre-Show Village is back. iHeartMedia Los Angeles’ 102.7 KIIS FM announced Friday (Nov. 17) its list of performers for the annual pre-Jingle Ball event.

P1Harmony, Teddy Swims, Charlieonnafriday, Paul Russell and GUNNAR will all perform live at the show, which is free and open to the public and will take place Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. PT in the parking lot of the KIA Forum. (G)I-DLE will also take part in a special Q&A during the event.

Later that night, at 7:30 p.m. PT, iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2023 Presented by Capital One at the Kia Forum will feature performances from Olivia Rodrigo, Niall Horan, AJR, Sabrina Carpenter, Miguel, Doechii, Flo Rida, (G)I-DLE and P1Harmony.

In addition to the Los Angeles stop, the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour will hit Tampa, Fla.; Dallas/Fort Worth; Chicago; Detroit; New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Atlanta; and Miami/Fort Lauderdale.

If you can’t make the Jingle Ball tour in person, a network special, airing Dec. 21 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT), will feature footage from all iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour stops. The special will be available on demand and on Hulu the following day. Tickets for Jingle Ball are available now at iHeartRadio.com/JingleBall.

The 102.7 KIIS FM Jingle Ball Pre-Show Village is sponsored by Your Local Kia Dealers, It’s Boba Time, Sweet James Accident Attorneys, LA Girl Cosmetics and BumBumz — which will provide fun, on-site activations for fans to experience.

Jung Kook’s first solo album, Golden, debuts atop Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Nov. 18), selling 164,800 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 9, according to Luminate.

Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the late Jimmy Buffett’s new studio album Equal Strain On all Parts bows at No. 3, Jason Aldean’s latest effort Highway Desperado starts at No. 6, anniversary reissues of Dave Matthews Band’s Before These Crowded Streets and Coheeed and Cambria’s The Second Stage Turbine Blade prompt their re-entries, while the physical release of Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You pushes the album to a No. 9 debut.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of the 164,800 copies sold of Golden, physical sales comprise 128,500 (all CD sales) and digital downloads comprise 36,500. As with many major K-pop releases, Golden was issued in 16 collectible CD editions, all with the same tracklist, but alternative packaging and covers, with different merchandise (some randomized) contained inside. Among the variants were retail-exclusive sold through Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart. Golden was also available to purchase across nine different digital download editions: a standard version, one with three music videos, a version with a “digitally signed” cover, two alternative cover versions, and four “voice memo” versions (each of the four came with a different short voice memo recorded by the artist as a bonus track).

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) slips to No. 2 with 122,000 copies sold (down 91%) after debuting at No. 1 the week previous.

The late Jimmy Buffett, who died on Sept. 1, debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with the final studio album he completed during his lifetime: Equal Strain On all Parts. It launches with 51,000 copies sold. The set was issued as a standard digital album, a standard CD and in two vinyl editions – a widely available Key West Blue-colored version, and an indie store exclusive Paradise Blue-colored version that contains a poster inside. Of the album’s 51,000 sold, CD sales comprise 26,000, digital album sales comprise 15,000 and vinyl sales comprise 10,000.

SEVENTEEN’s SEVENTEENTH Heaven: 11th Mini Album falls 2-4 on Top Album Sales with 22,000 (down 77%) while The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds dips 3-5 with 17,000 (down 48%).

Jason Aldean’s new studio album Highway Desperado drives in at No. 6 in its first week, selling 16,500 copies. It’s the 11th top 10, all consecutive, for the country star. He first visited the region with Relentless, hitting No. 4 in 2007.

Dave Matthews Band’s former No. 1, Before These Crowded Streets, re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 7 with nearly 15,000 sold, following a new 25th anniversary pressing on vinyl. (Essentially all of its sales for the week were on vinyl.) It was available in four vinyl variants: a standard black-colored edition, with clear, yellow and red/blue marbled version.

Another anniversary vinyl pressing brings an album back to the chart, as Coheed and Cambria’s The Second Stage Turbine Blade reaches the top 10 for the first time, as it re-enters at No. 8 with 13,000 sold (its best sales week ever). Nearly all of that sum is driven by vinyl sales, as the album garnered a new vinyl pressing for its 20th anniversary. It was available in five color variants: black transparent, yellow opaque, white with black splatter, yellow with white and black splatter and green with white and yellow splatter. Second Stage now marks the ninth top 10-charting effort for the act on Top Album Sales.

Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, debuts at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with a little over 11,000 copies sold (up from a negligible sum the week previous), following the album’s release on physical formats on Nov. 3. It was available in four vinyl variants, a CD and cassette tape. The album was initially released as a digital download and via streaming services in February.

Rounding out the new top 10 is TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s former leader The Name Chapter: Freefall, which drops 5-10 with 10,000 sold (down 31%).

In the week ending Nov. 9, there were 2.074 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 33.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.651 million (down 38.6%) and digital albums comprised 423,000 (up 2.5%).

There were 796,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 9 (down 35.5% week-over-week) and 845,000 vinyl albums sold (down 41%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 30.041 million (up 1.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 39.430 million (up 18.4%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 85.832 million (up 6% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 69.947 million (up 10.3%) and digital album sales total 15.885 million (down 9.7%).