BTS Tops Billboard 200 for 4 Consecutive Weeks... First Group to Do So Since The Beatles (Comprehensive)

Group BTS / Photo by Big Hit Entertainment

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] The group BTS's new album 'Map of the Soul: 7' has reached number one on the US Billboard chart for the fourth time.

Billboard reported on the 1st (local time) that BTS's fourth full-length album 'Map of the Soul: 7' topped the latest 'Billboard 200' main album chart (dated March 7).

According to Nielsen Music data, 'Map of the Soul: 7', released on the 21st of last month, sold a total of 422,000 copies by the 27th. Among them, physical album sales accounted for 347,000 copies. Additionally, streaming equivalent albums (SEA) accounted for 48,000 copies, and track equivalent albums (TEA) accounted for 26,000 copies.

Billboard calculates album rankings by combining traditional album sales, streaming counts, and digital track downloads converted into album sales. Streaming 1,500 songs or downloading 10 tracks is considered equivalent to purchasing one album. BTS's songs from this album were streamed 74.79 million times in the first week alone.

Moreover, the first-week sales of this album are the highest among albums released this year. It is the highest record since Harry Styles' 'Fine Line' (478,000 copies) released in December last year, and the highest for a group since One Direction's 'Made in the A.M.' (459,000 copies) released in December 2015.

Group BTS's 4th full-length album 'MAP OF THE SOUL : 7' album jacket/Photo by Big Hit Entertainment

With this number one, BTS became the first Asian artist to have four consecutive albums top the Billboard 200 chart.

BTS first topped the Billboard 200 with their third full-length album 'Love Yourself: Tear' in May 2018 (chart dated June 2, 2018). Since then, they have consecutively topped the Billboard 200 four times in 1 year and 9 months with the repackaged album 'Love Yourself: Answer' in September 2018, the mini-album 'Map of the Soul: Persona' in April last year, and this latest album.

The first-week sales have been breaking records with each album release: 131,000 copies for 'Love Yourself: Tear', 185,000 copies for 'Love Yourself: Answer', 230,000 copies for 'Map of the Soul: Persona', and 422,000 copies for this album, demonstrating a rapid increase in momentum.

Billboard stated that BTS achieved four number-one albums on the Billboard 200 in the shortest time for a group since The Beatles. The Beatles released four number-one albums on the Billboard 200 within 1 year and 5 months, from 'Yesterday and Today' (chart dated July 30, 1966) to 'Magical Mystery Tour' (chart dated January 6, 1968).

Along with the US Billboard chart, BTS also topped the UK Official Charts, considered one of the two major pop charts. According to the Official Charts on the 28th (local time), BTS's new album entered the 'Official Albums Chart Top 100' at number one.

Following their previous album 'Map of the Soul: Persona', they once again reached the top of this chart, becoming the first Korean artist to achieve two consecutive number-one albums on the Official Chart.

They also swept number one on domestic digital music and album charts. The title track 'ON' topped real-time charts on major music sites such as Melon, Genie, and Bugs immediately after release.

On the iTunes chart, as soon as the album was released, it ranked number one on the 'Top Albums' chart in 91 countries and regions worldwide, including the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Russia, India, Singapore, Japan, and Brazil.

Meanwhile, Billboard is scheduled to announce the latest Billboard 200 chart, where BTS ranked number one, as well as the main singles chart 'Hot 100' on its official website on the 3rd (local time). Previously, the title track 'Boy With Luv' from the 'Map of the Soul: Persona' album ranked 8th on the 'Hot 100'.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.