BTS becomes first group to surpass 10 billion Spotify streams in a year

South Korean pop group BTS has become the first musical group to surpass 10 billion streams on “Spotify” in a single year, its record label “BigHit Music” said.

The group’s streams more than doubled from 4.5 billion in 2025, driven largely by its fifth studio album, “Arirang”, released in March, South Korea’s “Yonhap News Agency” reported on Friday, citing the label.

Solo artists including Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny had previously reached the 10 billion-stream mark, but BTS is the first group to achieve it, according to “BigHit Music”.

The milestone comes after the group returned to full-group activities following the completion of South Korea’s mandatory military service by all seven members.

Released on March 20, “Arirang” has accumulated more than 5 billion streams on “Spotify”, making it the platform’s most-streamed album among releases in 2026, “Yonhap News Agency” reported. The album recorded more than 110 million streams on its release day.

“Spotify” said in its newsroom that “Arirang” became the most-streamed K-pop album in the platform’s history on March 20.

In April, “Spotify” ranked BTS 12th on its list of the most-streamed artists of all time, based on data through that month.

BTS debuted in 2013 and became one of the world’s most successful K-pop groups. Its international hits include “Dynamite” and “Butter”, both of which topped the “Billboard Hot 100”.