With their fifth studio album, 'Arirang', BTS has captured key positions on both domestic and international weekly music charts.
Data from Hanteo Chart, an authoritative album sales monitoring platform, indicates that 'Arirang' led the weekly global and album charts from March 23 to 29. Remarkably, the album clinched the top position just three days post-release on March 20 and sustained this lead for two consecutive weeks during the third week of March.
BTS group image [Photo=Big Hit Music]
An early article from the American music media outlet Billboard on March 30 confirms that 'Arirang' has secured the top spot on the Billboard 200 for the issue dated April 4. The album debuted with 641,000 album units, setting a new benchmark for group albums since the introduction of unit tracking in December 2014. Of the total units, an impressive 532,000 were attributed to pure album sales, including both physical and digital purchases, marking the highest weekly sales for a group album in over ten years.
BTS continued to exert their influence across global music platforms. Their album dominated Spotify's weekly global charts from March 20 to 26, including 'Weekly Top Albums', 'Weekly Top Songs', and 'Weekly Top Artists'. The track 'SWIM' emerged as the frontrunner on the 'Weekly Top Songs Global', while all 14 tracks from 'Arirang' were featured within the top 30.
The single 'SWIM' maintained its leading position on Spotify's 'Daily Top Songs Global' and Apple Music's 'Top 100 Global' for nine days (March 20-28) and seven days (March 23-29), respectively. All tracks from the album consistently appeared on the latest chart rankings of both platforms. This enduring popularity, even ten days post-release, underscores the extensive support from global music enthusiasts for not just the title track but the entire album.
BTS is set to embark on their 'BTS WORLD TOUR 'ARIRANG'', with initial performances scheduled at the Goyang Sports Complex Main Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on April 9, 11, and 12. The tour will extend into South America in October, with concerts planned in countries including Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Notably, all 46 shows, encompassing performances in Goyang, North America, Europe, and Tokyo, Japan, have been sold out in advance, highlighting the group's significant ticket-selling prowess.