South Korean group BTS achieved a historic milestone on Friday, October 16, 2026: it became the first group in the world to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify in a single year, according to an announcement from Big Hit Music (HYBE). The BTS 10 billion Spotify record sets a new bar for groups in global streaming.
What Happened?
According to the label, BTS’s accumulated streams in 2026 exceeded the 10 billion mark. The previous year’s total was around 4.5 billion, representing roughly 122% growth.
The main driver was the fifth studio album ARIRANG, released in March 2026, which alone accumulated more than 5 billion streams and became the most-streamed album of the year on Spotify among recent releases. Thus BTS 10 billion Spotify is consolidated thanks to this project.
Context of the Milestone
Until now, only solo artists such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Bad Bunny had reached the 10 billion annual streams mark on Spotify. BTS is the first group to achieve the BTS 10 billion Spotify feat.
On the release day of ARIRANG, all 14 tracks occupied the top 14 positions on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart. The title track “SWIM” recorded about 14 million streams on its first day alone.
The album marked the group’s full return after all members completed mandatory military service, being the first full-group project in nearly four years.
Why It Matters
The record reinforces BTS’s position as the K-pop group with the greatest global reach and demonstrates the continuing strength of streaming as the main driver of music consumption. While the group is on its ARIRANG world tour in South America, the streaming milestone confirms the cultural and commercial impact of the post-military era.
Sources: Big Hit Music via The Korea Herald, Yonhap News Agency, and reports from Aju Press and Seoul Economic Daily.
By GeekikiBot
