BY POLARIS_TAE

SPOTIFY

#1- BTS also had a big year for Spotify achievements in 2023! For group releases, both You Never Walk Alone and Jimin's solo song 'Filter' reached new personal milestones. The group's 2017 Wings repackage, You Never Walk Alone officially became the group's 6th album to surpass 3 billion streams on Spotify. Then, Jimin's 2020 solo single of the group's 4th studio album, Map of The Soul: 7 became the group's 16th song to surpass 400 million streams on Spotify. Now moving on to solo releases, and the youngest member Jungkook by far had the biggest year on Spotify as a BTS member. The idol smashed the record for the biggest streaming year for a Kpop soloist in Spotify history by having over 676 million (and counting) streams on the platform. The previous record was held by Korean soloist IU with 675 million streams on Spotify. The idol also had three of his songs surpass personal milestones throughout the year. His July hit-single 'Seven' became the most streamed song by a Kpop act in 2023 with over 600 million streams on the platform. 'Standing Next To You' became the fastest Kpop solo song to surpass 200 million streams on Spotify. Meanwhile, the idol's 2020 single, 'Still With You', which was officially released on Spotify in 2023, was able to surpass 100 million streams in just a few short months. Now moving on to other BTS members solo releases and Agust D, Jimin, J-hope & V were also able to gain new achievements. V's 'Love Me Again' surpassed 100 million streams, Agust D's D-Day surpassed 500 million streams, J-hope's Jack in the Box (HOPE EDITION) surpassed 600 million streams, while his pre-release single, 'MORE' officially surpassed 200 million streams. Finally, Jimin's Face surpassed a whopping 1 billion streams on the music streaming platform.

BIGGEST ALBUM SALES - HIGHEST ALBUMS SALES & PERSONAL BESTS

#1- It was a big year for album sales for HYBE artists overall. Despite almost half the group enlisting in the military throughout the year, both BTS, as well as its remaining active group members, were still able to successfully achieve many new milestones for their album sales! The group's debut album, 2 Cool 4 Skool was able to surpass 500K album sales on the Gaon (Circle) album chart. Then, their fourth studio album, Map of the Soul: 7 became the first Korean-language album to surpass 1 million pure sales in the U.S. Now moving on to its group members and V's debut solo album, Layover became one of the best-selling solo albums this year when it was able to sell just short of 2 million copies within the first 24 hours of release. He was only beaten out by fellow member Jungkook, with his solo release, Golden which was able to successfully sell over 2.1 million copies in a single day. Then in December, the idol successfully sold over 500K units of Golden's lead single 'Standing Next To You' in the US.

#2- Another HYBE artist who was able to have a massively successful year in 2023 was SEVENTEEN. The group became the first Kpop act to surpass 10 million albums sold in a single calendar year on Gaon (Circle). Throughout the year, the group shattered multiple personal and previously held records by other artists as well. The group's April album, FML became the best-selling album in South Korean history after it sold over 5.2 million copies. It also broke the record with the highest first-day, and first-week sales in Korean history, while also becoming the most pre-ordered album in Korean history.

#3- Now moving on to other rising HYBE Artists and LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans and BOY NEXT DOOR were all able to successfully achieve new personal records. Both NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM joined the millionaire club after their ANTIFRAGILE & OMG albums were able to cross 1 million copies respectively. While HYBE's newest boy group, BOY NEXT DOOR has shown a massive improvement in their album sales after the group's latest album, Why.. became their first album to surpass 250K sales.

PERFECT ALL KILLS

Only six songs this year were able to reach the status of receiving a Perfect-All-Kill (PAK). To successfully obtain a PAK, a song is required to simultaneously hit #1 on all South Korean major music platforms including MelOn, FLO, Instiz, Genie, and more.

#1- IVE was able to achieve a total of 3 PAKs this year, which also ties them with IU as the artist to receive the most total PAKS in a single calendar year. Their April release 'Kitsch' became their first PAK in early April, while 'I AM' similarly brought them the same achievement in late April. Then they ended the year in November with another PAK, this time with their October release, 'Baddie'.

#2- (G)I-DLE marked their first PAK of the year with their smash-hit 'Queencard' in June. 'Queencard' brings the group's total number of PAKs to 3 following 2022's 'NXDE' & 'Tomboy'.

#3- NewJeans was able to receive their second overall Perfect-All-Kill in July with 'Super Shy' following last year's 'Ditto'.

#4- Our last PAK of the year belongs to the brother-sister duo Akdong Musician — or AKMU for short — when their latest release, 'Love Lee' was able to consecutively reach the #1 position on all of the major charts. In addition to this achievement, 'Love Lee' was able to maintain its #1 position on the MelOn Daily Chart for a whopping 53 days this year. Making it the longest #1 streak on the chart this year. Congrats!

ON THE CHARTS - BILLBOARD & MELON ACHIEVEMENTS

#1- BTS had an especially great year when it came to charts and achievements on Billboard! The group continued their dominance in the charts both with their solo and group releases. The group's only group release, 'Take Two' continued the group's standing on the Billboard charts when it made its debut at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then moving on to the members' solo activities, and we saw new releases from Jungkook, Jimin, J-hope, Suga (as Agust D) & V. Starting with the Billboard 200 and we saw Jimin, Jungkook, Suga (as Agust D) & V all place at #2 on the Billboard 200 with Face, Golden, D-Day & LayoVer respectively. Meanwhile, J-Hope rose to a new height of #6 on the chart through the special edition re-release of his album Jack in the Box (Hope Edition). Then moving on to the Billboard Hot 100, and we saw two #1 debuts by BTS solos. Jimin's 'Like Crazy' debuted in the #1 position in May, while we saw Jungkook block Jason Aldean's 'Try That In a Small Town' from taking #1 with his solo release 'Seven' alongside US-based rapper Latto in July. Also charting on the Hot 100 this year was J-Hope's 'On The Street' with J.Cole at #37, Jimin's 'Angel Part 1', 'Set Me Free Part 2' & his Taeyang collaboration 'Vibe' at #65, #30 & #76 respectively, V's 'Love Me Again' at #96, Suga's 'Haegeum' at #58 & Jungkook's '3D' & 'Standing Next To You' at #5. Then in Korea, the groups' English-language single 'Dynamite' became the second-longest charting song ever by an idol group on the MelOn Weekly Chart after it surpassed 'Boy With Luv'.


#2- Numerous other Kpop artists charted in the West this year. Aside from BTS-related releases, a total of 27 Kpop albums charted on the Billboard 200 this year. Eight total Kpop albums charted within the top three positions of the Billboard 200. STRAY KIDS, TXT & NewJeans successfully placed in the top position with their albums 5-Star, The Name Chapter: Temptation & Get Up respectively. Now moving onto the Billboard Hot 100 single chart. A total of seven singles unrelated to BTS were able to make it into the chart in 2023. FIFTY FIFTY's smash Tik-Tok hit, 'Cupid' was the certified hit of the year after it was able to peak at #17 on the chart and spent a whopping total of 25 weeks on the chart. Two more artists were able to successfully chart their songs this year. NewJeans had a whopping five singles place within the chart. Their singles, 'Ditto', 'OMG', 'Super Shy', 'ETA' & 'Cool With You' peaked at #85, #74, #48, #81 & #91 respectively on the chart, while TWICE spent one week at #84 with their English-Language single 'Moonlight-Sunrise'.

OTHERS - CERTIFICATION ACHIEVEMENTS, SPOTIFY MILESTONES, NON-MUSIC ACHIEVEMENTS

#1- Like any other year, there were numerous certifications both in Korea and abroad. BTS proved themselves to be powerhouses once more as they received new certifications for not only their group albums, but also for their various collaborations and solo releases. The groups' 2nd English-language single, 'Butter' gained platinum status in France after the single surpassed 30 million equivalent streams. Jimin's 'Like Crazy' from his debut solo album, FACE successfully achieved RIAA platinum certification after selling the equivalent of 1 million units in the US. BTS' Jungkook & Latto's single 'Seven' gained platinum certification in September. This is Jungkook's second single to achieve this milestone following 2022's 'Left and Right' collaboration with Charlie Puth. Then the idol's debut album, Golden gained RIAJ platinum certification after surpassing 250K units sold in Japan. Then our final BTS certification consists of PSY & Suga's collaboration, 'That That' received a platinum certification on Gaon (Circle) after the 2022 release surpassed 100 million streams. Meanwhile, SEVENTEEN's 2023 album, FML was the latest album to successfully go 5 x Platinum on Gaon (Circle). It will join BTS' Map of the Soul: 7 as the only other album to achieve such a feat. Now moving abroad and BiSH's final single, 'Bye-Bye Show' became eligible for RIAJ gold certification during the single's first official day of release after it sold over 133K units in a single day.


#2- Then in Japan, the Japanese super duo YOASOBI's Smash Hit 'Idol', which serves as the OP to the massively successful idol anime 'Oshi no Ko' set a brand new record on the Oricon chart when it became the fastest song to surpass 5 million plays on the platform. It will join three of the groups' previous works which have already surpassed 5 million plays on the platform.

~ thank for reading