BTS breaks new ground on Spotify with record-breaking year
K-pop supergroup BTS has become the first music group ever to surpass 10 billion Spotify streams in a single year, according to its agency, BigHit Music, Qazinform News Agency cites Yonhap.
The milestone makes BTS the first group to reach the 10 billion mark on the global streaming platform in a single year, joining solo artists such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny, who have previously achieved the feat.
The achievement was driven largely by the group's fifth studio album, Arirang, released in March. The album has generated more than 5 billion streams, making it the most-streamed album released this year on Spotify.
Arirang marked BTS' first full-group release in nearly four years following the completion of all members' mandatory military service. The album drew massive attention worldwide, recording more than 110 million streams on its first day alone.
The album also made history on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first album by a group since Mumford & Sons' Babel in 2012 to remain at No. 1 for three consecutive weeks.
Notably, global K-pop sensation BTS became the first pop group in the world to surpass US$500 million in cumulative ticket sales with its ongoing "Arirang" world tour, Billboard said.