BTS Reveals Proof Disc 3 Will Be CD-Only – US K-Pop Fans Are Angry
Photo credit: K-Pop Market
BTS has revealed plans to release their new album titled Proof. It includes a third disc which will be available as a physical CD only.
In a press release announcing Proof’s release plans, the third disc is described as a “special gift for fans”. The disc contains 14 tracks, including demo versions of “Jump”, “Boy in Luv”, “Boyz with Fun”, “Seesaw” and an a capella version of Jung Kook’s track, “Still With You”.
Many BTS fans were excited about the news, but many others were unhappy with the requirement for the physical edition. Yesterday, for a brief moment, the phrase “What do you mean by CD only?” was trending on Twitter among K-pop fans.
“What do you mean cd i want to hear on spotify,” one fan tweeted. Others shared their desperation at having to find a CD player to enjoy the band’s extra tracks. “BTS made CD 3 only because the songs are all about sobbing in your car in a pizza hut parking lot,” one fan tweeted.
K-Pop and J-Pop artists are no strangers to CD-only releases. There are often multiple versions of the same LP with different artwork to encourage fans to purchase multiple copies of the same album for the collector. Thus, an entire CD of music intended for physical listening only makes sense to collectors.
“The anthology album was supposed to be great for new fans and people outside of the fandom to listen to their old songs, but suddenly you keep the best CD by not putting two new songs and the demos on the platforms streaming and honestly making people illegally stream. ?” a fan asked on Twitter.
The CD medium remained popular in Asia and particularly in Japan. Meanwhile, most Americans can’t remember the last time they bought a CD in person. Looking back, the last time I bought a CD was around 2008 when I bought a Black Sabbath anthology for Mother’s Day.
CD sales in America have plummeted since 2001, but they signaled a comeback for the first time in 2021. Shipments fell from 31.6 million in 2020 to 46.6 million in 2021, according to data from the RIAA. Those increased numbers are likely helped by exclusive CD releases like this.