The world witnessed the return of BTS. Online was covered with keywords related to BTS, and BTS showed overwhelming buzz and influence across all metrics. Moreover, their comeback served not just as a new song release but as an opportunity to promote Korean culture around the world.
BTS released their fifth studio album "Arirang" (ARIRANG) on the 20th and on the 21st held "BTS comeback live: ARIRANG" (BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG) around Gwanghwamun Square. According to Netflix's announcement on the 25th, which livestreamed the event, the event was watched by as many as 18.4 million viewers in a single day. The "BTS comeback live: ARIRANG" video posted on Netflix after the event entered the weekly chart at No. 1 in 24 countries/regions. It was included in the "top 10" in 80 countries/regions. Weekly rankings were calculated based on cumulative view counts from Monday through Sunday, U.S. time. BTS's comeback live topped the weekly chart with only two days of data.
Online reactions were also intense. Netflix reported that social mentions related to BTS reached as many as 2.62 billion before and after the performance. This is the highest figure ever, more than double Netflix's previous live project record of 1.25 billion mentions (Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua). It is significant in that fandoms around the world expanded the ripple effect by sharing the same hashtags and messages in real time.
With BTS's fifth studio album "Arirang" and the Gwanghwamun Square performance as a starting point, interest in Korean culture and Seoul landmarks exploded. This was confirmed by increases in related keyword mentions. Social listening analysis showed that from March 17 to 23 online English mentions of Gyeongbokgung, Sungnyemun, gugak, the bronze bell of King Seongdeok, and King Sejong increased sharply. In particular, about 80–90% of mentions over the past 30 days were concentrated around the period before and after BTS's comeback.
Mentions of King Sejong surged by about 630% compared with the previous day as of the 21st. This is presumed to be the effect of Gwanghwamun Square, the venue for "BTS comeback live: ARIRANG." In addition, in connection with BTS's new release, unfamiliar keywords among global audiences such as the bronze bell of King Seongdeok and Baekbeom Kim Gu also received concentrated attention in a short period.
Meanwhile, on the 24th BTS successfully completed the event "Spotify X BTS: SWIMSIDE," a collaboration with global audio and music streaming platform Spotify. They will appear as a group on the U.S. NBC program The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which airs at 12:35 p.m. on the 26th–27th.
[Photo] BigHit Music/Netflix
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