BTS dropped their first studio album in nearly six years on Friday (March 20), breaking records across major streaming platforms.
Arirang pulled in over 110 million streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours, breaking the record for the most-streamed K-pop album in Spotify history and the most-streamed album in a single day this year, Spotify announced on social media over the weekend.
Big Hit Music said Arirang also sold 3.98 million copies on its first day of release, citing local album sales tracker Hanteo Chart. The figure surpasses BTS’s previous first-week record of 3.37 million copies set by Map of the Soul: 7 in February 2020 — in a single day rather than a full week.
Arirang has now landed on the 12th spot on Spotify’s all-time list for opening-day streams across any genre, according to Variety. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department still holds the title for the best first day on Spotify with 314 million streams on its debut.
Besides Swift, who holds the top four spots, the only other artists ahead of BTS are Bad Bunny, Drake, Playboi Carti, and Travis Scott, according to Variety.
All 14 tracks from the album also occupied spots on the Spotify Global Top 50, with the lead single SWIM, debuting at No. 1 on the Spotify Daily Global Chart and Body to Body taking the second spot.
As of Monday, all 14 tracks from Arirang placed between Top 1 and Top 22 on Spotify’s global daily chart.
Amazon Music and Apple Music also reported separately that Arirang set first-day global streaming records for a K-Pop album on their respective platforms.
However, despite the streaming and sales success, HYBE’s shares plunged to an over three-month low on Monday (March 23) after a heavily promoted comeback concert that took place in Seoul on Saturday featuring Arirang drew a smaller crowd than authorities had initially expected.
HYBE’s stock had already slipped 3.8% on Thursday (March 19) to KRW 341,000 after Big Hit Music disclosed that group leader RM sustained an ankle injury during rehearsals on March 19, requiring a cast and limited movement for at least two weeks. RM performed at the Gwanghwamun concert with restricted choreography.
As of the end of the end of the trading day on Monday in Seoul, shares had plummeted a further 15% to KRW 290,500, the lowest level since early December.
The free outdoor concert at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul had a ticketed capacity of around 22,000, with overflow crowds watching on large screens in the surrounding area, according to The Times.
HYBE said the event attracted 104,000 fans in total, but that was far lower than the 260,000 police had initially projected, according to Chosun. Seoul’s real-time urban data system suggested the actual figure may have been lower still — between 46,000 and 83,000 depending on the perimeter measured, according to the Korea Times.
Bloomberg said stringent crowd controls may have affected the attendance as they seek to avoid a repeat of the Itaewon crush, which killed more than 150 people in 2022.
An estimated 300 million people watched the concert via Netflix, The Times reported, though the streamer has not yet publicly confirmed viewership figures.
Arirang marks BTS’s sixth Korean-language studio album and 10th overall. The record represents the group’s first project since members completed mandatory military service in South Korea last year.
BTS are also set to embark on a Live Nation-promoted world tour to support Arirang, spanning 82 dates across 34 cities in 23 countries. The tour will feature a 360-degree, in-the-round stage design. The show kicks off Thursday, April 9, with BTS performing for three nights in Goyang, South Korea, before heading to Tokyo, Japan.
Tickets for shows in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours. Kim Yu-hyuk, an analyst at IBK Investment & Securities, estimated the comeback would generate at least KRW 2.9 trillion (approximately $1.93 billion) — a figure that could potentially rival the earnings of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
From there, the tour moves to North America, Europe, and the UK, followed by shows across Latin America, Asia and Australia.
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