The term military hiatus does not suit the group BTS. Even after returning in four years, they are breaking records and showing an irreplaceable presence. This achievement is possible because they are BTS.
Having returned as a full group after 3 years and 9 months, BTS is proving their name by breaking records. The gap caused by military enlistment is rendered meaningless as their name expanded worldwide immediately upon their comeback.
BTS released their fifth studio album, 'Arirang' (ARIRANG), and made their comeback on the 20th. 'Arirang' is an album that contains BTS's identity and universal emotions that many people can relate to. The title track 'Swim' (SWIM) is an alternative pop song that sings of the attitude of continuing to move forward without stopping amid life's waves. It is a song that interprets the will to swim calmly at one's own pace as a 'love of life'.
BTS's march of new records began immediately with their comeback. 'Arirang' set a new record with 3.98 million copies sold on its first day. It had overwhelming power, becoming a million-seller within 10 minutes of release. It was also the highest-selling album released this year in just one day.
'Arirang' achieved 4 million copies sold in three days, surpassing first-week sales of 4,169,464 and breaking the record of their 2020 studio album 'Map of the Soul: 7' (MAP OF THE SOUL : 7), setting a new team record.
In addition, immediately after the release of 'Arirang', it created the spectacle of placing 14 tracks in a row on the Spotify global chart. 'Arirang' became the most-streamed K-pop album of all time within a day of its release and was the most-played album in a single day this year. All tracks on the album, including 'Swim', occupied positions 1 through 14.
'Swim' was streamed 14,644,352 times on Spotify on its first day. That figure is 1.3 times and 1.9 times higher, respectively, compared with BTS's global hits 'Butter' and 'Dynamite'. Even though it is a new song released after 3 years and 9 months, it showed an unprecedented impact. In Spotify's weekly chart compiled on the 27th, they swept the 'Weekly Top Albums', 'Weekly Top Songs' and 'Weekly Top Artists' global charts.
Moreover, BTS's global impact has grown stronger. According to the Official Charts released on the 28th, 'Arirang' topped the U.K. Official Albums Top 100 chart and also reached number one on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart. 'Swim' achieved the group's best-ever ranking by placing at No. 2 on the Official Singles Top 100 the same day.
They announced their return on the U.S. Billboard with various new records. According to a chart preview article posted on Billboard's website on the 30th, BTS's 'Arirang' claimed No. 1 on the main album chart, the Billboard 200 (for the April 4 issue). 'Arirang' entered the chart with 641,000 album units, marking the best weekly performance for a group album since unit-based accounting was introduced in December 2014.
Billboard noted, "Of those, 532,000 were pure album sales (physical and digital purchases). In that area, BTS recorded the largest weekly sales for a group album in about 10 years. SEA units (streaming-equivalent album units) were 95,000, the highest weekly streaming figure among their releases."
With this, BTS achieved their seventh No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Previously, they reached No. 1 as the first Korean act with Love Yourself 轉 'Tear' (2018), followed by Love Yourself 結 'Answer' (2018), Map of the Soul: Persona (2019), Map of the Soul: 7 (2020), BE (2020) and Proof (2022). 'Arirang' also went straight to No. 1 on Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums.
In this way, BTS has demonstrated their presence as a '21st-century pop icon' through numbers and achievements. Regardless of the hiatus, they continue a historic trajectory possible only because they are BTS, breaking various records.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music.
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