Achieving record breaking hits throughout the year 2014 has landed the Korean pop bands or K-pop 2NE1 and EXO spots on the Billboard 200. Both groups have attained a milestone in the Korean music industry as their achievement of placing in the year-end World Album Artists chart is a first for the country.
The Korean boy band EXO placed snagged the number seven spot in the year-ender list. The group's popularity was propelled to its peak following their decision in May this year to divide the band into two splinter groups-EXO-K and EXO-M. This move was reportedly done to simultaneously boost the sales of their Overdose EPs in two countries: China and Korea. EXO-K catered to the Korean market, while its counterpart EXO-M focused on the Chinese fans. This tactic clearly paid off as the Korean version of the album rose to the number 126 spot in the Billboard 200, while the Chinese edition conquered the charts at number 8. With the combined revenues generated by the two splintered groups, EXO became the highest Billboard placing Korean boy band in history.
Meanwhile, the Korean girl group 2NE1 placed number 9 in the global album list. The release of the band's February album, called 'Crush', has marked the biggest ever sales achieved by any Korean band. In fact, records show that 2NE1 sold 5,000 copies within four days the album was released to the public. This number not only catapulted the group on top of Korea's music industry, but also in the United States. Apart from attaining impressively high sales, the album earned the female quartet the 61st slot on the Billboard 200.
Topping the year-end World Album Artists chart for 2014 is Celtic Woman, followed by Rodrigo Y Gabriela and Celtic Thunder. Gaining the fourth spot is Stromae, then Babymetal and Loreena McKennitt. As aforementioned, EXO landed the seventh place and is followed by Gaelic Storm and 2NE1. The tenth spot was bagged by Tinariwen.