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BTS third most-streamed artist on Spotify this year
According to the Spotify Wrapped 2021 data, BTS ranked third after Puerto Rican vocalist Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift as the most-streamed artist globally, thanks to its hit single “Butter.” The K-pop group was followed by Drake and Justin Bieber.
BTS topped the list among Korean artists, followed by BLACKPINK, TWICE, Stray Kids and Tomorrow X Together. IU was the only individual artist in the top 10 list of the most-streamed Korean artists.
Six of the 10 most-played K-pop songs were from BTS with “Butter,” “Dynamite,” “Permission to Dance” and “Life Goes On” in the top four places.
BTS also claimed nine of the top 10 most-streamed K-pop albums with BLACKPINK in fourth place.
Spotify also unveiled who were the top 10 most-streamed Korean girl groups and boy groups this year.
Leading the list of female groups was BLACKPINK. It was followed by TWICE, ITZY, Red Velvet and (G)I-DLE.
BTS, Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together, Seventeen and EXO were the top five boy groups in that order.
The most-streamed single by an individual singer was “R” by Rose, a member of BLACKPINK. Two other members of the quartet — Lisa and Jennie — came in second and fourth for “Lalisa” and “Solo,” respectively. Psy’s iconic 2012 global hit “Gangnam Style” demonstrated its presence in K-pop by securing ninth place.
The Wrapped 2021 data showed K-pop’s remarkable advance in the global music industry.
Songs by the top 10 K-pop artists were streamed a total of 13.7 billion times, compared with 10.6 billion in 2020, a mark of how the popularity of Korean artists continues to grow.
“We were able to confirm once again that Korean artists and their music are loved worldwide,” a Spotify official said. “We’ll continue to support Korean artists so more of them can be connected with fans around the world.”