Popular 3rd Gen Idol’s Low Album Sales Despite Having 47+ Million Followers Becomes A Hot Topic 

Album sales are a well-established metric for measuring the success of a release and an artist’s overall popularity. Usually, artists with enormous followings boast sales that “match,” though on occasion a well-known artist will surprise with album sales considered “low” for their popularity.

Award-Winning Idol’s Startlingly Low Album Sales Triggers Harsh Criticism

Recently, a popular idol’s album sales fell short of his popularity in the eyes of netizens.

In 2016, the boy group ASTRO debuted and have since accomplished much as a group and as solo artists.

ASTRO at debut | Fantagio

This includes Cha Eunwoo, who is well known for his handsome visuals and his work as an actor following his debut in ASTRO, including appearances in My ID is Gangnam Beauty, Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung, and True Beauty.

ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo | W Korea

His popularity has earned him numerous acknowledgments, and he is the face of many brands, representing major fashion labels as well. The idol currently has 47.9 million followers on Instagram, one of the most followed outside of K-Pop’s “BIG 4” agencies.

On November 21, his second mini album was released, featuring the title track “Saturday Preacher.” The music video for the track currently has 14.4 million views, with the number continuing to grow.

Eunwoo’s album recorded just under 13,483 sales in its first day, under the sales of his previous album. So far, with three recording days remaining, Else has 51,791 sales in comparison to the 217,133 recorded for the week long sales of ENTITY.

Netizens reacted with surprise, some criticizing and questioning his popularity not translating in this way.

it-boy in korea but nobody's buying nor streaming his music…. https://t.co/pIAeQDbvxE pic.twitter.com/d6FryQD38n

— Migz (@prodyucil28) November 27, 2025

does his fans know he released music? the ones who like him as an actor, are they even aware that he is a singer? i’m very surprised at this number cos he’s popular in sk and global so why is there no support? https://t.co/CNvvS8pDqi

— alex⁷ (@minimonifile) November 26, 2025

48 million followers for what exactly https://t.co/dkWizhM9Pv

— j (@snugchaan) November 27, 2025

Eunwoo is serving out his military enlistment and has been since July 2025, so one possible explanation is a lack of promotion. Additionally, fans also pointed to many of his followers being fans of his acting career, rather than being fans of K-Pop as a possible explanation.

he is known more as an actor and not as a singer, so this isn’t really much of a surprise. most of his fans and insta followers are kdrama fans who aren’t really much interested in kpop, idk why people in the qrts are so surprised?? 😭 https://t.co/B2YaYbVWKU

— ִֶָ (@xngddenly) November 27, 2025

does his fans know he released music? the ones who like him as an actor, are they even aware that he is a singer? i’m very surprised at this number cos he’s popular in sk and global so why is there no support? https://t.co/CNvvS8pDqi

— alex⁷ (@minimonifile) November 26, 2025

prob cs most of his fans/enjoyers only tuning for his acting jobs. nobody gaf abt his music😭 https://t.co/zDjx8stdAz

— parrotclw (@parrotclw) November 26, 2025