
BTS YouTube views 2021, by country
Who is BTS?
BTS is a K-pop group of seven young Korean men, first formed in 2013 by what was then a small agency, Big Hit Entertainment. Now in 2020, BTS and its members are widely considered the most popular K-pop artists. They regularly break their own records to set new records in album sales and YouTube viewership. Furthermore, they set a new record by becoming the first K-pop group to address the United Nations. BTS is still gaining fans around the world, and these fans formed the “ARMY”. The continuous growth of their fandom is a major driving force behind BTS’ record-setting. The group’s successes also benefited its agency, Big Hit Entertainment. On the brink of bankruptcy just a decade ago, Big Hit returned to making a profit thanks to BTS and had the highest operating profits among the Big 4 entertainment companies in South Korea.
Secret to BTS’ popularity
BTS started to gain popularity abroad with its music, which offers something for everyone and covers diverse topics such as mental health and contemporary social issues, in contrast to the typical K-pop songs. There is also a large amount of content on YouTube, Twitter, and other SNS platforms, such as the standard “official music videos”, behind-the-scenes videos, reality shows, and even videos showing BTS watching their fans watch their videos. Exceptional choreography also attracted and held the eyes of the band’s audience, especially drawing in teenagers for whom the lyrics in BTS’ songs struck a chord. BTS gathered a sizeable fanbase in the Americas where traditionally K-pop had struggled to break into the mainstream. YouTube played a major role in this success and the statistics here show BTS’ popularity in the Americas, with the three of the top 5 countries being Japan, Indonesia, and the United States.