NOTE: The majority of these come from Korean and U.S. based magazines and websites (YouTube, Tumblr, Spotify, etc.) because this is what I’m familiar with as an American K-pop fan. But I’d also like to point out that BTS is incredibly popular across the globe and has had plenty other accomplishments in many other countries!
BTS set some records in 2019, but I’m might not mention every single one if they’ve gone on to break it since. If you want further details, you can read the articles I linked in my bullet point lists and/or in the source notes.
BTS’s Achievements in 2019
Map of the Soul: Persona (“Boy in Luv”)
- “Boy With Luv” debuted at #4 on Spotify’s Global 200 chart, which was the highest debut by a Korean artist at the time.
- “Boy With Luv” became Spotify’s most-streamed K-pop song when it passed 285 million streams. (I’m not sure if it still is the most-streamed K-pop song.)
- According to Nielsen Music, Map of the Soul: Persona was the #6 best-selling album in the United States in 2019 (combining both physical and digital sales). When looking at just physical sales, it took #2.
BTS earned a lot of Guinness World Records for YouTube views of “Boy With Luv” and album sales for Map of the Soul: Persona, but I haven’t listed them here because BTS went on to break all of these records in 2020.
Popularity and Influence
- BTS appeared on Gold House’s 2020 A100 List of most impactful Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
- BTS won Time Magazine’s TIME 100 Poll for the 2nd year in a row.
- BTS won Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards for the 3rd year in a row, and also became the first Korean Artist to win Top Duo/Group.
- BTS debuted at #43 on Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100 list (which ranks the world’s highest-paid celebrities).
- BTS was on Time Magazine’s List of “The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet” for the 3rd year in a row.
- BTS set a Guinness World Record for the “fastest time to reach 1 million followers on TikTok.” They reached 1 million followers in about 3 and a half hours.
- BTS won Variety‘s Group of the Year award.
- BTS was the first Korean Twitter account to pass more than 20 million followers.
Other Achievements and Items of Note
- BTS became the first Korean and Asian artist to pass 5 billion streams on Spotify.
- “Fake Love” passed “Gangnam Style” to become the most streamed song by a Korean artist on Spotify (it was in turn passed by “Boy With Luv”).
- BTS was ranked #9 on the New York Post‘s “Top 10 Boy Bands of All Time.”
- BTS became the first Korean artist to sell out London’s Wembley Stadium for their world tour “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself.”
- BTS and Big Hit Entertainment founder Bang Si Hyuk were invited to become members of the Recording Academy (which oversees the Grammys.)
- 3 of BTS’s songs were added to NASA’s “Moon Tunes” playlist (“Mikrokosmos,” “134340,” and RM’s “Moonchild”). This is a playlist for NASA’s next mission to the moon, which is scheduled for 2024.
- BTS’s “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” show at the Rose Bowl became the stadium’s highest-grossing show.
- The Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation made commemorative medals for BTS. They are the second group to receive them after EXO.
- BTS received a Dubai Star along with EXO.
- BTS became the first Korean artist to sweep all of the daesang awards (top prizes) at both the Melon Music Awards and the MNET Asian Music Awards.
- BTS became the highest earning tour group of 2019 when their “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour grossed over 194 million dollars.
End of Year Charts and Lists
| Website/Company/News Source | Achievements/Rankings |
|---|---|
| Bugs Music | #2 Most Loved Song of 2019 (for “Boy With Luv”) Most Loved Videos of 2019: #2 “Boy With Luv” #8 “IDOL” |
| Genie Music | #5 Top Song of 2019 (for “Boy With Luv”) |
| One of Top 10 Korean Instagram Accounts (the ones with the highest amount of followers) | |
| International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) | #7 Top Global Recording Artist of 2019 (only K-pop) #3 Top Global Album of 2019 (for MOTS: Persona) |
| Spotify | #2 Top Group of 2019 #18 Top Artist of 2019 #1 Top K-pop Artist of 2019 |
| TIME Magazine | One of “100 Most Influential People of 2019” |
| Tumblr | #1 2019 Top K-Pop Groups #1-7 Top K-pop Stars (Order: Jungkook, Jimin, V, Suga, RM, Jin, J-Hope) |
| #1 Most-Mentioned Account Golden Tweet (most retweeted Tweet) #1 Most-Mentioned K-pop Account | |
| YouTube | Most Liked Music Videos Globally: #2 “Boy With Luv” #9 “Chicken Noodle Soup” (by J-Hope) #1 Most Watched Music Video in Korea (for “Boy With Luv”) |
SOURCES: Bugs Music, Forbes Magazine (1), Gold House (1), Guinness World Records (1), IFPI (1) (2), Instagram, New York Post (1), Nielsen Music, Soompi*, Spotify (1), TIME Magazine (1) (2) (3), Tumblr (1) (2), Twitter, Variety, YouTube
*For Map of the Soul: Persona: (1) (2) (3)
*For Popularity and Influence: (1) (2) (3) (4)
*For Other Achievements and Items of Note: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)
*For End of Year Charts and Lists: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Katherine Does K-POP 