BTS, EXO, NCT Make History: K-Pop Acts Occupy Top 3 Of Billboard’s Social 50 Chart For The First Time
South Korean artists are clearly making names for themselves in the American music scene. Recently, they yet again made history at the Billboard's Social 50 chart. The chart has K-pop groups BTS, EXO, and NCT in its top three spots. This is a first in the American music chart company's history.
Billboard announced that on its April 7-dated list, the three South Korean boy bands had claimed the top three spots in its Social 50 chart. BTS, EXO, and NCT took the No. 1 to 3 spots, respectively. Moreover, another K-pop group, GOT7, rose to No. 5 also in the same week list. This gives the chart four K-pop acts in its top five. Canadian singer Shawn Mendes is at No. 4.
The Billboard's Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr. It combines the additions of friends/followers of the artist or band each week as well as page views and other forms of engagement. Music analytics company Next Big Sound gathers all data and is methodically combined by Billboard. The Social 50 chart began in 2012.
BTS At No. 1 In Billboard's Social 50 Chart
The Bangtan Boys' latest achievement is the Favorite Global Music Star award from the 2018 Kids' Choice Awards, but they have another history in their hands. BTS has been dominating the Billboard's Social 50 chart for 68 nonconsecutive weeks. The band has garnered 7 million social engagement overall for last week alone, and that includes a 22 percent increase in Twitter mentions.
BTS' latest singles that were released worldwide are "Mic Drop" and "DNA." On Wednesday, the Korean idols also dropped their third full-length Japanese album, titled Face Yourself. It already peaked at the top spot on Japan's Oricon daily album chart.
EXO At No. 2
EXO has been in the same spot for 10 consecutive weeks. The band's social media reactions soar by 96 percent. That includes a 127 percent increase on Instagram. This gave the group 3.7 million engagements overall.
The band's sub-unit, EXO-CBX, is about to drop its comeback EP, Blooming Days, on April 10. It is expected that this will further help EXO to stay on top of music charts.
NCT At No. 3
The 18-member band is the most junior of all three, but they are definitely not the least in terms of talent and charisma to fans. NCT quickly climbed to No. 3 on the Social 50 chart dated March 31 after they debut at No. 9. Overall, the K-pop group recorded 9.8 million Instagram reactions, which is 5.5 million more from its previous week's record.
NCT has released its comeback full-length album NCT 2018 Empathy on March 14, and it debuted at No. 5 on the World Albums chart. They also recently dropped a music video for the album track "Yestoday." It currently has more than 2.2 million views on YouTube.
Meanwhile, NCT member Ten is also set to release a new solo track, "New Heroes," on April 6 at 6 p.m. KST. This will help the band from keeping their fans fully engaged on their social media sites.