BLACKPINK and LE SSERAFIM Are Stuffing Albums With Lamps and Cameras

TWS will ship a working mood lamp inside its special edition of the single album TWS, out November 2. CORTIS packed a lip balm into its June mini album. The physical K-pop album is no longer something you play.

The lamp is part of the B-side version of TWS's second single album. It's built to hang on a wall, and the usual CD, photobook and photocards come along with it. Korean outlet Sports Donga framed the design as a way to give fans a reason to use the album even when they aren't listening to it.

Lip balm, cameras and hourglasses

The trend is not a one-off this year. Rookie group CORTIS put a lip balm called "Blue Lips" into the special edition of its second mini album GREENGREEN, released in June. It was made with the beauty brand Torriden. The pitch: this is something fans use, not something they shelve.

LE SSERAFIM went further. The special edition of Part 1 of its second full-length album PURE FLOW, out in May, includes a mini camera that shoots photos and video. An NFC tag unlocks music content, so the camera and the album are effectively one object.

BLACKPINK, in February, bundled a USB-powered hourglass mood lamp with its third mini album DEADLINE. The source calls it a representative success, though it offers no sales figures to back that up.

Redefining what an album is

The source's read is that K-pop does not see these extras as mere nudges to buy. The definition of a physical album has widened from something you listen to into something you use and experience daily. The old fate, opened once and quietly forgotten in a display cabinet, is what the industry seems to be avoiding.

It's a tidy rebrand of the collectible. Whether a lamp keeps a CD relevant, or just keeps it in the room, is a fair question.