NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Jimin, RM, Jungkook, V, J-Hope, Jin, and SUGA of the K-pop ... [+] boy band BTS visit the "Today" Show at Rockefeller Plaza on February 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesBTS released their new album, Map of the Soul: 7, a few hours ago, and the results are in: It’s officially a smash.
So much so, in fact, that immediately upon release, Map of the Soul: 7 became the bestselling album of the year worldwide, according to Chart Data. That’s not exactly a surprise, as the album sold a reported 4.02 million global preorders (and the actual number was likely higher), making it the fastest-selling album of the year. Once it came out and those preorders turned into official sales, it was inevitable that Map of the Soul: 7 would become the bestselling global album of 2020 as well.
Many of Map of the Soul: 7’s first-day sales came from South Korea, where it sold a staggering 2.183 million copies in its first two hours of release, according to the Hanteo chart. That makes BTS’s latest effort the fastest-selling album in the South Korean music chart’s history.
Map of the Soul: 7 is also performing terrifically in the United States, as expected. It soared to No. 1 on iTunes’ top albums chart, beating new albums by Ozzy Osbourne, Grimes and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Its tracks also occupy the first Top 20 of iTunes’ top songs chart, with lead single “ON†ruling the roost. (Notably, the BTS-only version takes the top spot, while the Sia-assisted version trails directly behind it.)
Expect to see huge first-day sales and streaming totals from around the world for Map of the Soul: 7 once more data becomes available. The album will also receive a sales boost from the “ON†music video, titled Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima, which will factor into the album’s performance on the Billboard 200. Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima is currently the top-trending YouTube video in the United States, with 15.9 million views and counting at the time of this writing.
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