People in 77 countries watched Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square and Arirang echoed around the world. A folk song representing Korean sentiment and a meaningful song symbolizing Korean culture became known to people worldwide. It's thanks to the group BTS. And it was a plan conceived by HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who understood BTS's influence in the global market.
BTS's fifth full-length album, released as a complete group after 3 years and 9 months, Arirang (ARIRANG), is resonating worldwide. The long hiatus for mandatory military service seems irrelevant, as they have been dominating global charts immediately upon their comeback.
Arirang is an album that deals with the team's identity, longing and the universal emotion of deep love. As the album that breaks a long hiatus and opens BTS's second act, it emphasized BTS's identity by foregrounding the Korean element of Arirang. The cultural and emotional symbolism of Arirang aligns with BTS's roots in Korean identity and connects Korean and global music fans.
In other words, for BTS, Arirang was a return home and a keyword for promoting Korean culture worldwide. The Korean sentiments and creativity, empathy, freedom and hope contained in Arirang, sung for centuries, connected with their music. And through Arirang, BTS naturally propagated their identity and sentiments as 'Korea' to the world.
Bang Si-hyuk, who served as general producer for the comeback that marked the second act after the military hiatus, also considered this important. He focused on the idea that the keyword Arirang was not a simple Korean element but a meaningful direction that could serve as BTS's roots and connect the sentiments of Korea and the world.
Bang Si-hyuk said, "When you gather 60,000 or 70,000 people and perform, the scene of more than 50% of the foreigners singing along to Arirang's chorus would be incredibly iconic," and added, "You cannot deny that you are an iconic presence returning after decades, and you cannot deny that it happens to be a Korean singer."
And Bang Si-hyuk's prediction was correct. On the day BTS made their comeback at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square with Arirang, 18.4 million viewers in 77 countries around the world watched their performance. When the Arirang of Body to Body rang out in Gwanghwamun Square, cheers erupted worldwide. At a fan event that continued in New York, U.S., fans sang the chorus of Arirang in unison.
Major foreign media also focused on the significance of Arirang and referred to BTS's identity. Their new world tour, which opens in Goyang on Apr. 4 and continues to 34 cities worldwide, is expected to feature fans singing Arirang in unison. BTS has brought the nation's most emblematic folk song to the world. This moment is both decisive for promoting Korea and highly meaningful.
As Bang Si-hyuk predicted, BTS's Arirang is recording not only symbolic meaning but also record-breaking results. Arirang achieved first-week sales of 4,169,464 copies, setting a new personal record. On global music platform Apple Music, it reached No. 1 in 115 countries and regions, including the U.S., Germany, Mexico and Japan.
They also conquered the U.S. Billboard charts, the world's largest music market. According to a chart preview article posted on Billboard's official website on the 30th, BTS's Arirang took No. 1 on the main album chart, the Billboard 200 (for the Apr. 4 chart). Since the introduction of unit accounting in December 2014, it was the best performance among group albums and set the record for the largest weekly sales for a group album in about a decade.
The title track Swim (SWIM) went straight to No. 1 on the main song chart, the Hot 100 (for the Apr. 4 chart). It is the group's seventh No. 1 song and the 89th song to debut at the top. It also set the team's record for most No. 1s since the Bee Gees, who had nine No. 1 hits from 1971 to 1979, marking the most No. 1s for the team in nearly half a century.
On the U.K. Official Charts, they reached No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart Top 100 for the third time, and they topped the Top Albums chart announced by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) in France. According to Australia's ARIA, they were simultaneously No. 1 on the Top 50 Albums and the vinyl chart, making it the best performance this year among Korean artists.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music.
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