BTS reaches top spot on Billboard 200 with record-breaking performance

BTS' new album 'ARIRANG' debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, setting a historic record. On March 29 (local time), Billboard announced that BTS' new album 'Arirang' topped the Billboard 200 chart, which counts the most popular albums in the United States.

According to Luminate (formerly Nielsen Music), 'Arirang' recorded 641,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 26. This is the highest first week performance for a Korean artist's album in Billboard 200 history.

Group sales record broken after 10 years

This achievement goes beyond a simple K-pop record. 'Arirang' recorded the largest first week sales in the US among group albums in about 10 years since One Direction's 'Midnight Memories' in 2013.

In particular, record-breaking results were achieved in vinyl sales. It achieved the largest vinyl sales week for a group album since Luminate began electronic counting in 1991, with 208,000 copies sold on vinyl in the first week alone.

Achieved #1 in sales and streaming simultaneously

Looking at the total performance of 'Arirang', traditional album sales accounted for 532,000 copies. The streaming equivalent album (SEA) unit was 95,000, with 99.1 million on-demand audio streaming in the first week. This is the highest streaming weekly performance of a BTS album ever.

What is noteworthy is that 'Arirang' debuted at number one on both the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart and Top Streaming Album Chart. It achieved the highest performance of the week in both sales and streaming.

BTS' seventh #1 on Billboard 200

'Arirang' is BTS' seventh album to rank first on the Billboard 200 chart. Previously, 'Love Yourself: Tear', 'Love Yourself: Answer', 'Map of the Soul: Persona', 'Map of the Soul: 7', 'BE', and 'Proof' topped the charts.

Meanwhile, BTS debuted at number one on the UK Official Album Chart with 'Arirang', and reportedly broke their career-high ranking on the single chart with 'Arirang' and 'SWIM'.