BTS has debuted No. 1 again in the Billboard 200 chart. This is the fourth consecutive time the septet took the top slot, making them the second shortest time to do so after The Beatles.
BTS's latest album, Map of the Soul: 7, followed the mark that Love Yourself: Tear, Love Yourself: Answer, and Map of the Soul: Persona did in the past: taking the No. 1 spot in the album chart. The new LP peaked at No. 1 spot within 1 year and nine months, a little short of the record set by The Beatles over half a century before which is 1 year and 5 months.
Aside from earning the top spot, the "ON" hitmakers also recorded the biggest week of 2020 for Billboard. The group clocked 422,000 album units beating the top records this year: Eminem's Music to Be Murdered By with 279,000, Halsey's Manic with 239,000, and Justin Bieber's Changes with 231,000 copies.
According to Billboard, the BTS's 422,000 equivalent album units comprise 347,000 in physical album sales or 95 percent. The rest were individual song downloads and streams on platforms such as iTunes and Spotify. The Map of the Soul: 7 streaming equivalent album total equates to 74.79 million on-demand streams of the 20 tracks in the album.
Moreover, BTS also recorded the biggest week for a group in the past four years. The last group that topped the 422,000 unit sales in a week was One Direction in 2015.
The numbers that the album made in the charts have impressed the music industry insiders. It is because the South Korean group didn't use any concert ticket or merchandise bundles to sell albums and achieve their latest feat.
BTS dropped their album on February 21 worldwide. Prior to the release, Map of the Soul: 7 already recorded a staggering four million pre-orders.
Meanwhile, in local achievements, BTS also made an "all-kill" win in their first week on all music programs in South Korea despite a lack of physical support from their fans. Music programs in SoKor held shows in the past week with no audience due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook immediately went on promotions in several music shows after their album release. They did a special comeback stage on Mnet's M Countdown on February 27.
The next day, they performed on KBS Music Bank and won. Although they did miss the stage of MBC's Music Core on February 29, allegedly due to some issues with the network, the group still won. The "Boy With Luv" singer also made a comeback performance on SBS's Inkigayo and also won.
The American Music Awards Best Group winner admitted after winning in Inkigayo that it was "boring" performing on stage without their ARMY. The septet, however, still showed off in their intricate dance choreography for "ON" and "Black Swan."
"It's boring performing on stage without ARMY. But thanks to ARMY we were able to win! This is what I wore today!" Jin tweeted while holding their costume for the Inkigayo "ON" performance.
