NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 31: BTS attend Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest … [+]
The list of the 10 bestselling albums in the world in 2021 features some regulars, as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift (with two collections, no less) all managed to sell well enough throughout the year to end up on IFPI’s exclusive and incredibly competitive ranking. BTS also manages to find a spot on the tally, though amazingly, they didn’t release a new album last year. In fact, they beat out some of the biggest names in the global music industry with a title that performed surprisingly well.
The South Korran band lands at No. 4 on the list of the bestselling albums in the world of 2021 with BTS, the Best. The title is a compilation of most of their biggest hits. Compilations are known for performing well throughout time, as fans often flock to them when they want to hear their favorite singles from a singer or band they love. While they often have true staying power, it’s rare that any greatest hits set from any act sells as well as BTS’s did.
BTS’s ability to sell a compilation in today’s new music world is perhaps even more impressive, as the format isn’t quite as successful as it used to be, at least for newer acts. These days, fans don’t need to buy a CD in order to collect chart-topping smashes from any musical outfit, as they can simply head to streaming platforms like Spotifuy or Apple Music, or perhaps even digital storefronts like Amazon or iTunes to consume whatever they like. Owning a compilation isn’t necessary, like it once was.
This year, BTS is the only act to appear on IFPI’s bestsellers list with a compilation, as opposed to a new album of all original material.
It also must be mentioned that BTS, the Best is entirely in Japanese, one of three languages the boy band performs and records in. While they’re primarily known for singing and rapping in their native tongue of Korean (as they hail from South Korea), the group has recently scored global hit singles with English-language smashes like “Butter,” “Permission to Dance” and “Dynamite.” Some of their Korean-language releases, such as “Life Goes On” and “Idol,” have also topped the charts in dozens of countries.
Typically, BTS’s Japanese songs and albums perform extremely well in Japan, but not so spectacularly outside of that one nation. That’s in stark contrast to their English and Korean efforts, which are often welcomed warmly all around the world. BTS, the Best quickly became the septet’s most successful Japanese studio effort, but it still didn’t reach the same heights in many places as their past releases. That means that the compilation likely lands at No. 4 on the purchase-only list due to extreme popularity in Japan alone.
While stars such as Swift, Bieber and Sheeran needed their latest efforts to sell well in every nation in the world in order to place on IFPI’s 10-spot list. BTS seems to have managed to do the same thanks largely to their Japanese fan base. Of course, listeners everywhere contributed to what must be an astounding sales sum (IFPI didn’t publish exact numbers), but it appears that ARMYs (the name BTS fans have adopted for themselves) in Japan went above and beyond.
Clearly music lovers in Japan aren’t afraid to open their wallets and actually buy music from the groups they love, as one incredibly popular vocal act from the Asian nation also breaks onto the short list. Snow Man, a Japanese all-male singing act, appears at No. 9 with their debut album Snow Mania S1. That set didn’t make much of a commercial impact outside of Japan, so obviously fans in that country love to buy, as opposed to only streaming.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2022/03/01/bts-scored-the-fourth-bestselling-title-in-the-world-in-2021heres-why-thats-especially-impressive/