SEOUL, April 01 (AJP) - April may prove a cruel month for some K-pop acts, as a crowded comeback calendar squeezes much of the first half’s release schedule into a single month.
At least 27 acts are set to return in April, ranging from major-label groups and established stars to rookies and soloists. What was supposed to be a strategy to avoid head-on clashes with mega events — including BTS’s return and major political and sporting fixtures — has instead produced an intense bottleneck.
The lineup begins with Tomorrow X Together on April 13, marking the group’s first release since renewing their contracts. NCT WISH follows on April 20, while ILLIT is scheduled to return on April 30. LE SSERAFIM is set for a comeback just six months after its previous release, with TWS and others also joining the packed slate. Solo releases are piling up alongside group returns.
Much of the congestion stems from delays earlier in the year. First-quarter releases were pushed back to avoid high-profile events, including the Winter Olympics in Italy from Feb. 6 to 22 and BTS’s March 20 release of its fifth studio album, followed by a large-scale performance in downtown Seoul the next day.
The months ahead offer little relief. Local elections are scheduled for June 4, and the World Cup will follow, creating further pressure on agencies trying to secure attention before public focus shifts elsewhere.
“When major national or global events take place, attention and spending are redirected there first,” pop culture critic Kim Sung-soo said. “Entertainment becomes secondary.”
That has left only a narrow window between BTS’s return and the coming wave of headline-grabbing events. In trying to avoid competition, the industry has instead concentrated it.
“When resources, time, money and attention are pulled toward larger events, other forms of consumption are pushed back,” Kim said. “That is when release schedules begin to cluster.”
The April lineup now spans the full spectrum of the market, with top-tier groups, solo acts and newcomers all crowding into the same stretch in a fight for visibility.
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