BTS’s 5th Album ‘Arirang’ Tops ‘Billboard 200’ for Second Straight Week, a First in K-pop History

[The Financial News] BTS (Bangtan Boys)’ fifth album “Arirang” has become the first K-pop album ever to spend two consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard main albums chart, the “Billboard 200.”
Billboard announced in a preview article for the chart dated the 5th (local time) that BTS’s fifth album held onto the top spot for a second week, beating hip-hop star Kanye West (Ye)’s new release “Bully,” which debuted at No. 2, and Melanie Martinez’s “Hades,” which entered at No. 3.
This is the first time a K-pop artist’s album has ranked No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for two weeks in a row. Previously, the original soundtrack (OST) album for the animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” had reached No. 1 on a non-consecutive basis, but this is the first consecutive run at the summit.
During the latest tracking week, “Arirang” earned 187,000 album units, down 71% from the previous week. Physical album sales totaled 114,000 copies, allowing it to remain No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a second straight week, while streaming equivalent albums (SEA) accounted for 65,000 units and Track Equivalent Album (TEA) units were tallied at 8,000.
The Billboard 200 ranks albums based on album units, a composite metric that combines physical and digital album sales, streaming equivalent albums (SEA), and Track Equivalent Album (TEA) from digital track downloads.
In its first week, the fifth album posted 641,000 album units, setting a new all-time high for a group since the Billboard 200 began using album units as its standard in December 2014. It is also the highest first-week figure this year among all artists.
“Arirang” is an album that captures “the BTS of today” and the group’s identity, and it features 14 tracks including the title song “SWIM.” “SWIM,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 main singles chart last week, is expected to remain in the top 10 on this week’s chart, scheduled for release as early as the 6th.




jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-ah Reporter