BTS has become the first group to accumulate 10 billion annual streams on Spotify, its label BigHit Music said Friday.
The group’s fifth full-length album, Arirang, played a major role in the achievement, generating more than 5 billion streams since its release in March. It is the most-streamed album released on Spotify this year.
The album made an immediate impact upon release, with all 14 tracks, including the instrumental song “No. 29”, occupying the top 14 positions on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart.
BTS’ total Spotify streams have more than doubled from 4.5 billion last year, driven by the group’s first full-length project in nearly four years. The album arrived after all seven members completed their mandatory military service and reunited.
Read more: K-Pop’s Export Problem Was Never the Music, It Was Metadata, Says DFSB Kollective’s Bernie Cho
Arirang surpassed 110 million streams on its release day on March 20. It also became the first album by a group since Mumford & Sons’ Babel in 2012 to top the Billboard 200, the main U.S. albums chart, for three consecutive weeks.
View this post on Instagram
BTS is currently in Santiago, Chile, where it is scheduled to perform three shows through Saturday as part of its Arirang world tour. The group’s South American leg includes 14 concerts across five cities, beginning in Bogotá, Colombia, before continuing through Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.
The seven-member act will close out the month with three shows each in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil. The Buenos Aires concerts are scheduled for Oct. 21, 23 and 24, while the São Paulo shows will take place on Oct. 28, 30 and 31.
Read more: K-Pop Pioneer Lee Soo-man Returns To Music Production With New Groups A2O Lite And A2O Soul
Two of the concerts will be shown in cinemas worldwide. The Oct. 24 performance in Buenos Aires and the Oct. 30 show in São Paulo will be available as live-viewing events in approximately 3,800 cinemas across more than 80 countries and territories.
Screening dates may vary by market because of time differences. Fans in some parts of Asia and other regions are expected to watch the concerts one or two days after the live performances.
