BTS’s first English song tops Spotify chart on first day of release

“Dynamite,” a new track by BTS released on Friday, reached No. 1 on the global charts on Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, becoming the first Korean song to top the charts.

Dynamite topped Global Top 50 on the first day of its release according to Spotify on Saturday. The track, which is the group’s first song that is sung entirely in English, was streamed 7,778,950 times across the world, setting a new record for the most streamed song on the day of release on Spotify. “How You Like That” by Blackpink reached No. 2 in June, while “Boy with Lov” by BTS ranked third.

The new single was No. 3 in the United States and No. 15 in the United Kingdom breaking the group’s previous records while it rose to No. 1 in 14 countries and regions. Now the attention is on whether the track would top the singles chart as well as the albums chart because Spotify rankings affect the Billboard Charts in the United States and the Official Charts in the United Kingdom.

Dynamite was also No. 1 on the iTunes “Top Song” chart in 104 countries and regions, while its music video reached more than 100 million views on YouTube within 24 hours. It had more than 146 million views on Sunday afternoon. The retro disco deals with happiness and confidence reminding listeners of how precious and special life is.


teller@donga.com