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| ▲ This photo provided by Big Hit Music shows K-pop boy group BTS. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Big Hit Music shows K-pop boy group BTS. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- Superband BTS ranked as the top seller of CD albums in the U.S. in the first half of this year.
According to MRC Data, which provides data on music sales to Billboard, the seven-piece act sold 573,000 CDs, marking the largest number of CDs sold by all artists in the U.S. from January 1 to July 1. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift came in second with 414,000 copies.
However in terms of total sales including CDs, vinyl (LP), and cassette tapes, Swift ranked first with 746,000 units sold while BTS ranked second with 573,000 units. BTS' physical album sales are seemed to have stemmed from CDs.
Swift also ranked first in total sales, after compiling digital album sales to the data, followed up by BTS in second place.
This record set by BTS is more significant, considering the K-pop band did not release a new CD in the first half of this year since dropping its mini-album "BE" last November. BTS' summer hit "Butter" was first released as a digital single, and later included in an actual CD along with "Permission to Dance," which was revealed on July 9.
In the first half of this year, two BTS albums were among the top 10 best-selling physical albums in the U.S.
"BE" ranked sixth with 125,000 units sold and BTS' fourth full-length album "MAP OF THE SOUL: 7," released last February, ranked 10th with 105,000 units.
In addition, K-pop group NCT's "Resonance Pt. 1" ranked eighth with 106,000 copies.
BTS also showcased an interesting performance in music sales. The supergroup ranked first and second in digital music sales with its English language songs "Butter" (841,000 cases) and "Dynamite" (283,000 cases), which was released last year.
The total amount of digital music sales in the U.S. fell by 20.3 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. However, BTS continues to build up a strong fandom and surpass other singers in terms of music sales, which can be seen as an indicator of the group's power.
Meanwhile, the most streamed song in the U.S. in the first half of 2021 was "Driver's License" by pop star rookie Olivia Rodrigo. The song topped Billboard's main singles chart for eight straight weeks.
American country singer Morgan Wallen's "Dangerous: The Double Album" topped the list of albums that were consumed the most by adding digital music downloads and streaming conversions.
Although Wallen was embroiled in controversy for shouting a racist slur, but the singer's album continued to top the Billboard main album chart for 10 consecutive weeks.
Meanwhile, sales of vinyl albums increased by 108.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
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