BTS top Japan's H1 album chart with 'ARIRANG,' hit 8th Spotify global #1
BTS's fifth studio album sold 706,961 CDs in Japan in the first half of 2026, topping Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart and setting a new Spotify global record.
ARIRANG, BTS's fifth studio album released in March 2026, topped Billboard Japan's first-half 2026 Hot Albums chart. The group moved 706,961 CD copies—enough to claim the overall CD sales crown as well. Online downloads brought in 20,139 units, landing the album at second place.
ARIRANG claimed its ninth all-time number one on Billboard Japan's weekly Hot Albums chart. BTS hit sixth on the first-half Artist 100 ranking. Title track "SWIM" charted at 38th on the first-half Hot 100; b-side "2.0" reached 87th.
Six K-pop albums cracked the top 20 of Billboard Japan's first-half overall chart. &TEAM's third mini-album We on Fire came in second at 705,543 copies—just 1,418 behind BTS. ENHYPEN's THE SIN : VANISH placed fourth. Tomorrow X Together's 7TH YEAR: 가시덤불에 잠시 바람이 멈췄을 때 landed seventh. TWS's NO TRAGEDY hit tenth with 248,771 copies. TREASURE's LOVE PULSE came in thirteenth. Every group in the top 20 was male, and all except TREASURE operate under HIVE subsidiary labels.
Globally, ARIRANG reached number one on Spotify's Weekly Top Album Global chart for the week of May 29 to June 4—its eighth time at the top this year. That surpassed the 2026 record previously held by Bad Bunny. All 12 album tracks charted on the Weekly Top Song Global for an eleventh consecutive week. "Into the Sun" climbed 20 positions week-over-week; "Aliens" rose 13.
"SWIM" held fourth on the Weekly Top Song Global and sat fourth on the Daily Top Song Global as of June 4, maintaining a top-ranking streak of 77 days. BTS placed 13 songs on Spotify's global daily chart that day—the most of any artist.
In the UK (June 5–11), ARIRANG rose five spots to 33rd on the Official Albums Top 100. It ranked 24th on both the Official Album Sales and Official Physical Album charts, 30th on the Scottish Albums chart, 34th on Official Album Streaming (up 16), and 40th on Official Vinyl. "SWIM" reached 44th on Official Single Download and 50th on Official Single Sales. Germany saw the album hold sixth on the Top 100 Albums chart dated June 5, its eleventh consecutive week inside the top 10. In Australia, ARIRANG climbed two places to sixth on the ARIA Top 50 Albums (June 1) and rebounded five spots to 11th on the Top 20 Vinyl Albums.
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