K-Pop Group Does the Unthinkable by Conquering America!

The music industry is dynamic. That alone is a known fact for any music connoisseur worth their salt. However, no one would have ever predicted that a K-Pop group would make inroads into American turf the way BTS have.

In South Korea, their native homeland, BTS stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan. All it took for the emergence of a K-Pop group to become household staples was time really. The changing tides of music are a force to reckon with.

“Love Yourself: Her” appeared at No. 1 in 73 countries iTunes charts following its release

However, that’s not to say that the K-Pop band has not worked their way all the way up to the very top. As Jay-Z, considered a force to reckon with in the music industry once said, ‘women lie, men lie, the numbers don’t’. BTS have amassed a whopping 1.6 million song downloads in a very short space of time. To couple this statistic, they have more than a billion online streams. Indeed, the numbers are in their favor.

In addition to this impressive repertoire, they have a plethora of hits to go along with their commercial success. Their success has seen a slew of loyal backers who show their support for the group on various platforms. Their fan base goes by the name ‘ARMY’ (Adorable Representative M.C for Youth) and their objective is transfixed on seeing the band reach the very pinnacle of music industry success.

Contemporary music has seen a radical shift in the way music gets promoted. A couple of decades ago, the online platform wasn’t as big as it now is. In order to have a musical direction, many artists relied on A&R (artists and repertoire) representatives. Today, many artists don’t need A&R people; they simply listen to what fans have to say online. A solid backing online goes a long way in ensuring that success is sustained.

Language

BTS stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, which means “Bulletproof Boy Scouts

Incredibly, most of the fans have no idea what the Korean lyrics on hits like ‘DNA’ and ‘Mic Drop’ actually mean. However, it is important to point out that language never stopped anyone from enjoying the groove. The fans sing atop their lungs proclaiming the prowess of band members in a number of ‘patented charts’. Music is indeed a universal language.

Such is the devotion fans have towards the K-Pop group. Of course, all of this would be meaningless if they did not actually purchase records made by the group. Their latest effort, 2017’s Love Yourself: Her sold an impressive 1.5 million physical copies as per South Korea’s Gaon chart. Given the fact that music sales aren’t what they were 10 years ago, this statistic is very impressive.

The aforementioned figures solidified their status as the most successful K-Pop act of all time. They also had the bestselling K-Pop album of 2017 based on the given statistics.

The most incredible thing about the K-Pop group is the fact that they have managed to achieve worldwide acclaim even in English-speaking markets. So impressive was the feat that Forbes listed them in the 30 Under 30 Asia List.

Early Beginnings

The group was conceptualized in 2013 by a Lilliputian South Korean record label called Big Hit Entertainment. Initially, the group experimented with hip-hop sounds before making the switch to their current stylings.

To achieve success, the K-Pop group decided to take the long hike. They put their efforts in making solid slow burn albums like 2?, 2 Cool 4 Skool, Skool Love Affair and O!RUL8.  This ‘school trilogy’ series achieved modest success in Japan and South Korea.

BTS became the first, and currently only K-Pop act to get their own Twitter Emoji

2016 saw their forays into the international scene thanks to their Wings album that went on to achieve the highest debut of a K-Pop album in the United States. Inspired by their newfound success, their follow up release, Love Yourself: Her peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

BTS’s promo has involved making pit stop appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and the American Music Awards. Their performances on such shows have only helped to enhance their appeal to the masses.

The K-Pop group’s success has been so unmistakable that they have managed to trump well-known celebrities on Twitter like Justin Bieber and President Trump as the most tweeted celebrities in 2017.

Upstaging the two figures on a platform widely considered their home turfs is no mean feat. It simply goes to show the power of engagement the K-Pop group command. Surely, they must be doing something right.