BTS’ 5th Full Album ‘ARIRANG’ Smashes Records with Over 4.16 Million First-Week Sales, Achieving New Career-High After ‘MAP OF THE SOUL: 7’
Global sensation BTS (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, Jungkook) has once again shattered their own records, demonstrating an incredible 260-fold growth over 14 years. This career-high achievement continues to unfold for the septet.
On the 27th of last month, the album sales tracking platform Hanteo Chart confirmed that BTS’s 5th full-length album, ‘ARIRANG’, released on the 20th after a 3-year and 9-month hiatus, achieved a monumental career-high. The album recorded an astonishing 4,169,464 copies in its first week of sales, setting a new benchmark for the group.
This colossal achievement significantly surpasses the 3.37 million first-week sales of their previous 4th full album, ‘MAP OF THE SOUL: 7’, released in February 2020. ‘ARIRANG’ demonstrated its immediate impact by becoming a million-seller within approximately 10 minutes of its release, going on to sell an incredible 3.98 million copies on its first day alone.
With each new release, BTS consistently shatters their own benchmarks, solidifying their status as truly irreplaceable artists. Analyzing the first-week sales of their domestic full albums reveals an extraordinary trajectory: from their debut full album ‘DARK & WILD’ in 2014 to the latest ‘ARIRANG’, the group has achieved an astonishing approximately 260-fold increase in sales.
To illustrate this remarkable growth, their 1st full album ‘DARK & WILD’ recorded approximately 16,000 first-week sales. By 2016, their 2nd full album ‘WINGS’ saw sales soar to around 340,000. Just three years later, their 3rd full album, ‘LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear”, marked a significant milestone by surpassing 1 million units, demonstrating a threefold increase in sales.
Their 4th full album, ‘MAP OF THE SOUL: 7’, released in 2020, achieved 3.37 million first-week sales. Now, the highly anticipated ‘ARIRANG’, unveiled after a 3-year and 9-month wait, has dramatically surpassed this figure, reaching an impressive 4.17 million units in its first week. This incredible trajectory highlights an over 260-fold increase in first-week sales from their debut domestic full album to their 5th full album.
Beyond album sales, BTS continues to dominate both domestic and international music charts. As reported by US Billboard on the 30th of last month, ‘ARIRANG’ made a sensational debut at No. 1 on the prestigious ‘Billboard 200’ main album chart. On the latest chart (dated April 11), its title track ‘SWIM’ impressively secured the No. 2 spot on the ‘Hot 100’. Furthermore, a remarkable 10 out of 14 B-side tracks from the album successfully entered the charts, including ‘Body to Body’ (No. 42), ‘Hooligan’ (No. 64), ‘NORMAL’ (No. 73), ‘FYA’ (No. 74), ‘2.0’ (No. 75), ‘Aliens’ (No. 84), ‘Like Animals’ (No. 90), ‘they don’t know ’bout us’ (No. 94), and ‘Merry Go Round’ (No. 96).
After 14 years of writing a story of consistent and explosive growth, BTS is now set to embark on a major world tour to reconnect with their global fanbase following their hiatus. The ‘BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG” will kick off on the 9th at Goyang Sports Complex Main Stadium, followed by a stop at Japan’s Tokyo Dome on the 17th. The tour will span an impressive 85 shows across 34 cities, including dates in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, promising an unforgettable experience for ARMYs worldwide.
