Image Source: Vox
Because of BTS’s dominance in the genre, the group’s decision to take time off for solo projects is bound to cause a stir in K-pop music consumption in the United States. And the band’s label, Big Hit Music — a division of HYBE that has been distributed in the United States by Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records since last year — will have a difficult time filling the void.
According to a Billboard analysis of Luminate data, BTS has accounted for 29.4 percent of K-pop music sales and on-demand streams in the United States since the start of 2021. BTS did not release a new studio album during that time, but did release two “best of” collections: BTS, the Best in June 2021 and Proof on June 10, 2022. BTS also released multiple versions of “Butter” (including a remix with Megan Thee Stallion), “My Universe,” and “Permission to Dance,” among other songs.
When considering streams and purchases of digital and physical formats, BTS accounted for 3.6 million album equivalent units since 2021 (through June 9), more than four times the next K-pop group.
Tomorrow X Together, another Big Hit artist, was second in total consumption with 795,000 album equivalent units. TWICE and Stray Kids (both distributed by Republic Records in the US) were third and fourth with 763,000 and 655,000 units, respectively, from competing Korean music company JYP Entertainment. BLACKPINK, from SM Entertainment (distributed by Interscope Records in the United States), came in fifth place with 569,000 album equivalent units.
Read Also: Billboard Music Awards: All you need to know about BTS win and Travis Scott’s performance
Since 2021, BTS has amassed 2.56 billion on-demand audio streams in the United States. During that time, BTS accounted for 27.7% of K-pop’s 9.26 billion on-demand audio streams in the United States. With 548 million streams, TWICE was in last place.
In the near future, BTS is expected to have a strong streaming performance. Proof, the band’s anthology album, was released on June 10th, and tracks can now maintain their popularity on streaming platforms by being played again on editorial and user-generated playlists.
However, because sales activity does not have the same longevity as streaming, album and track sales are more reliant on new releases. Since 2021, BTS has accounted for 29.1% of K-pop physical album sales and 72.3 percent of K-pop digital track sales. The band’s fans, known as BTS ARMY, are responsible for the band’s dominance in track sales. BTS fans are known to coordinate digital purchases to influence the band’s chart performance, according to Billboard in 2021. They have sold 3.1 million tracks in the United States since the start of 2021. Over the same time period, the other top-five K-pop acts each sold fewer than 100,000 albums.
Also noteworthy: In 2021, BTS sold more CD albums in the United States than any other artist, with 1.03 million copies sold, accounting for 2.5 percent of all CD album sales in the United States across all genres. In 2021, the group’s total share of the US album sales market (CD, digital download, vinyl LPs, and other formats) was 1%.
