After four years the group BTS made a full comeback and is posting record-breaking results with "Arirang."
BTS's fifth full-length album "Arirang (ARIRANG)" followed its No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with a No. 1 on the Hot 100, and 13 of the 14 tracks on the album charted on the Hot 100, writing an unprecedented record in K-pop history.
HYBE and BigHit Music on the 2nd said that three strategic moves by Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who served as the executive producer of the album, played major roles in its success.
#첫 번째 승부수, 초대형 송캠프
In 2025, ahead of producing BTS's comeback album, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk held a massive song camp in the United States. A song camp invites numerous producers to one location, rents studios for an extended period, and immerses participants in music production to create results. Song camps, which require participation from capable, well-known producers and large capital investment, became a rare format in the mainstream U.S. music industry in the 2000s. They gradually disappeared as record companies faced capital limitations and as individual work in private spaces expanded.
In this situation, a song camp for the comeback album of BTS, which has become a global IP, caused a strong response in the U.S. music scene. Across multiple song camps, some 200 to 300 candidate songs for the album were gathered, and from those the best were chosen and finally selected to appear on the album.
The entertainment industry analyzes this as a sign that K-pop's standing has changed on the U.S. mainland. The phenomenon of famous global songwriters flocking to put their names on a South Korean boy group's comeback album shows how rapidly K-pop's status is rising in the United States, the homeland of the music market.
HYBE said, "In addition to BTS, the fact that Curtis and HYBE–Geffen Records' global girl group KATSEYE caused a sensation had a major impact on the U.S. music market," and added, "As Chairman Bang's long-advocated 'export of K-pop methodology' took hold, the song camp itself attracted great attention."
#두 번째 승부수, 가장 한국적인 것의 세계화
The album "Arirang" places extremely Korean elements throughout. In the single "Aliens" alone, the lyrics consecutively reference "jungmori," "the shoe-removal culture," and "Teacher Kim Gu." BTS members appeared on the U.S. late-night talk show "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" last month wearing indoor slippers in the studio. "In Korea, people take off their shoes and wear indoor slippers when they come home," they said, and they gave the host a pair of indoor slippers. When they performed the title track "SWIM" at the Guggenheim Museum, they placed cushions on the floor rather than chairs or sofas and had the audience sit on them. They gifted the cushions inscribed with "Keep swimming" to audience members after the show. This introduced the Korean-style ondol floor-heating culture, which has gained some popularity in the United States.
The sixth track "No.29" made people around the world pay attention to the most Korean bell sound. They took the bold step of including a separate track of the mysterious sound of the Seongdeok Daewang Sinjong, cast using Silla Dynasty casting techniques. Following this song, official products such as shoulder bags and hairpins collaborated with the National Museum Foundation of Korea (NMF) brand "MYUZZ" were released and are selling rapidly worldwide. Not only the sound of the Seongdeok Daewang Sinjong but also the bell's engraved patterns have become fashion items.
The first track "Body to Body" incorporates the folk song "Arirang," which has led to mass singalongs overseas. During the album production process, Chairman Bang reportedly told the members about inserting "Arirang," "Imagine you are from a foreign country and when a superstar from your country sings your country's folk song in front of the world, wouldn't you feel goosebumps of emotion? As an artist, to give up a moment that can deliver that emotion makes no sense. The scene of people of many races with different skin, hair and eye colors coming together and singing 'Arirang' with one voice will likely be an iconic scene you will not see until you die." The members agreed with this view, so the full inclusion of "Arirang" was realized, and as Chairman Bang predicted, mass singalongs of "Arirang" have erupted around the world. HYBE said, "This is an example showing that when very Korean elements are presented with refined sensibility, they can become hit products that anyone in the world likes."
#세 번째 승부수 'BTS 관광지론'
During the production of BTS's comeback album, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk of HYBE offered a distinctive outlook for BTS's new chapter. He reportedly said, "BTS will now become an icon like a tourist attraction that everyone wants to see." It is well known worldwide that BTS grew together with ARMY (the fandom name). ARMY is the most fitting example in the entertainment industry of 'fandom economics,' where fans' love goes beyond consumption to create an industry. Still, Chairman Bang's promotion of the "tourist attraction theory" signifies that BTS, nurtured by ARMY, will grow beyond the boundaries of fandom into a group that appeals to people worldwide.
As Chairman Bang predicted, BTS's comeback album has become one people around the world want to listen to at least once. This is also proven by numbers. According to global audio and music streaming platform Spotify, the number of new listeners who encountered BTS's music for the first time on the 20th, when the album was released last month, surged more than 690%. Just as a famous tourist destination attracts people regardless of likes and dislikes, the demand waiting to listen to the album was this large. The industry analyzes this as "an indicator that musical influence is expanding beyond the existing fandom to the global public." The title track "SWIM" was streamed about 14.64 million times on Spotify on its first day of release alone. It showed destructive power that exceeded the records of mega-hits "Butter" and "Dynamite" by about 1.3 times and 1.9 times, respectively.
Foreign media assessments also back up the "tourist attraction theory." Rolling Stone UK said, "BTS is a cultural phenomenon. 'Arirang' is a work with the scale and completeness to match that," giving it a perfect score. The Guardian said, "If hits like 'Butter' were traces of efforts to enter the Western mainstream, 'Arirang' is like inviting the world to the table they set. BTS lives up to their reputation as the world's most popular pop group," praising the album.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music/HYBE.
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