BTS’ “SWIM” Breaks 500 Million Streams for the First Time This Year—Captures Even Artist of the Year at the AMAs, Unrivaled

A new milestone for pop music: the sheer power of “Spotify” reaching 500 million streams

The group “BTS” shook up the map of global music history once again. The title track of their fifth studio album, “SWIM”, set an unprecedented record by surpassing 500 million streams on the world’s largest music platform, “Spotify”. According to agency “BigHit Music” on the 27th, “SWIM” is the only work to reach this milestone among all songs released worldwide this year.

The song is the product of a determined will to draw its own course without compromise, even amid rough waves. Leader “RM” personally took part in writing the lyrics, perfectly weaving the most intimate and honest narrative of “BTS”.

“Billboard” takeover to “AMA” wins: a relentless global run

Their box-office momentum doesn’t fade into a one-off moment. Released in March, their fifth studio album, “ARIRANG”, seized the top spot for three straight weeks—first in K-pop history—on “Billboard 200”, the main album chart of the U.S. “Billboard”. The title track, “SWIM”, also grabbed the No. 1 spot on the main singles chart, “Hot 100”, delivering an overwhelming display with its seventh throne reclaiming across its career.

The long-run performance indicators of tracks on the album are just as remarkable. Starting with “No. 29”, which samples the majestic ringing sound of the bell Emille-bell of King Seongdeok, all songs from the fifth album easily surpassed 100 million streams, and “Body 2 Body” and “Hooligan” reached the 200 million mark early on, proving that the entire album is one massive mega-hit project.

The impact of this group, which dominated the music streaming market, carried straight through to major awards. On the “American Music Awards” (“AMAs”), held in Las Vegas, the U.S., on the 25th (local time), “BTS” achieved the feat of a triple-crown, including “Artist of the Year”, the highest honor. They left behind a weighty acceptance statement: “We pay tribute to everyone who keeps swimming forward no matter what harsh situation they face.”

HYBE’s finely tuned localization strategy: bringing the world together with a “multi-genre” approach

Meanwhile, the global reach of parent company “HYBE” was also clearly proven through this awards show. Following “BTS”’ overwhelming performance, the rise of diverse artists such as Cats Eyes and Tyler added even more firepower, culminating in the glory of sweeping all eight trophies.

“HYBE” said, “The ‘Multi Home, Multi Genre’ strategy—breaking down the boundaries of K-pop and embracing a wide range of genres—was perfectly accepted on the world’s most authoritative stage,” and declared an ambitious vision to keep generating disruptive synergy within the global music industry, built on an even more advanced localization system going forward.