Global phenomenon BTS tops the Billboard 200 charts which is dated March 7th. The Korean boyband’s no stranger to earning a number one album on Billboard, with Map of the Soul: 7 marking their fourth time snagging number one album honors.
All four number one albums have come in less than two years. With their latest release, BTS ties the legendary group The Beatles for that record (1966-1968).
BTS earning the number one album might not come as a shock to some, but there’s so much to be impressed by. Map of the Soul: 7 was originally expected to move closer to 300,000 equivalent units its first week. The album surpassed that prediction with 422,000 equivalent album units and 347,000 in pure sales.
To put into perspective how big those numbers are, the albums that came in at number two and three had significantly lower numbers (YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s album Still Flexin, Still Steppin had 91,000 equivalent sales and Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man had 77,000 equivalent sales.) To add to the impressiveness, BTS currently has the biggest first-week album sales in the US for 2020 thus far, beating out heavy hitters such as Eminem, Halsey, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.
Other aspects worth noting in a day and age where bundles have become a key role in counting for album sales, BTS has managed to pull off these numbers without ticket or merchandise bundles. It’s become the norm to use bundling to get a number one album and to help keep the album on the charts. By BTS choosing not to go this route it’s a significantly huge deal. To add to this, BTS has managed to do all this with little to no radio play. They did some radio station promos in the States right before their album dropped, however, radio has yet to add them to their rotations.
What’s next for the biggest group on the planet right now? Their “Map of the Soul” North American stadium tour which kicks off April 25, 2020 in Santa Clara, Ca at Levi Stadium. Their two dates at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA sold out within a matter of days, and due to fan demand it was announced on February 25th that a third date was added to the Rose Bowl.
