Borasaek Vision
W WE CELEBRATE BTS IN THE US H MUSIC INDUSTRY Y Written By Alapadma | Edited by Mheer | Checked by Aury | Designed by Kels On June 2, 2018, the Billboard 200 album chart updated with a Koreanlanguage album at #1, the first in history to achieve this feat. That album was BTS’ Love Yourself: Tear – the group’s third full-length Korean album and second in their “Love Yourself” series. The achievement at #1 brought a wave of celebration across the globe, including a congratulatory message from the president of South Korea himself. Love Yourself: Tear had become a symbol of global accomplishment. It portrayed an unprecedented moment for a Korean artist and sent a signal that BTS was a dominant force in the music industry. BTS has since preserved its industry dominance. Within less than a year, they followed up their first Billboard 200 #1 album with two more: Love Yourself: Answer in August 2018 and
13 | Why We Celebrate BTS In The Music Industry
Map of the Soul: Persona in April 2019. In February 2020, a fourth album hit the top of the Billboard 200 chart, Map of the Soul: 7. That album also gave BTS their first top 5 Hot 100 placement with “ON,” which proved to be only a taste of the incredulous result that would soon follow: #1 hit on the Hot 100 with “Dynamite.” But why are such achievements so grandly celebrated? Why was it a US #1 that sent a signal to the world? Since when did the “global music industry” become synonymous with the “US music industry?” American music has been a significant driving force in creating global popular cultural trends, particularly through the growth of the MTV which propelled American music videos into households across the world. International
