South Korean boyband BTS are the World’s best-selling Group after the massive global success of their albums 'LOVE YOURSELF: Tear’ and 'LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’. 'LOVE YOURSELF: Tear’ sold 2.275.000 equivalent units globally in 2018. Released on May 18, 2018 by Big Hit Entertainment, and powered by its lead single “Fake Love” the Album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 with equivalent sales of 135,000 becoming BTS' highest-charting album in a Western market, as well as the 1st Korean album to top the US albums chart and the highest-charting Album in America by an Asian Act! It also debuted at #1 on the Global Album chart .
During the first six days of the pre-order period for ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Tear' the album sold over 1.44 million copies domestically, surpassing ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Her' as the most pre-ordered album in Korea! On May 24, news media revealed updated numbers showing that pre-orders had actually crossed 1.5 million copies. This record was supassed in July 2018 by BTS' compilation album ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’! ‘LOVE YOURSELF, TEAR’ sold 1,664,041 copies in its first two weeks in Korea, making it the highest monthly sales for an album since the Gaon Chart's inception! The record was previously held by BTS' EP ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Her’ and was suprassed by ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’ in September 2018. BTS became first K-pop artist to surpass 1 million copies in its first week in Hanteo chart history, making them "double million sellers” without any repackage. The Album was certified "Million" by the Korea Music Content Association in July 2018, becoming the 1st album to receive this after the Gaon Music Chart launched its Platinum certifications earlier that year. Of the 20 million albums sold in 2018, ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Tear’ accounted for 10%!
On May 27, 2018, the Album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 with equivalent sales of 135.000, including 100,000 in pure Album sales, becoming BTS’ highest-charting Album in the US, as well as the 1st K-Pop Album to top the US Albums chart, and the highest charting Album by an Asian Act. It is also the highest sales week for a Korean Act in the US, and the 1st non english Album to top the Billboard 200 since Il Divo in 2006. In the UK, ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Tear’ was BTS’ 1st Top 10 Album on the Official chart, peaking at #8. The Album has sold over 100,000 copies since its release in Japan, becoming the 1st BTS Korean language Album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan in August 2018. It was the most imported Album in Japan of 2018.
‘LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’ was BTS' 3rd Korean language compilation Album and was released on August 24, 2018, supported by the success of its lead single “IDOL”. The Album debuted at #1 in South Korea, Canada, Japan and the US, becoming BTS’ 2nd chart-topping Album in North America. During the 1st 6 days of the pre-ordr period, the Album had sold over 1.51 Million copies, surpassing ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Tear’ to become the most pre-ordered Album in South Korea. It shot to #1 on the Gaon Album Chart, selling 1.933.450 copies during the last 8 days of August. The Album broke the record for the most monthly sales in Gaon history. In October 2018, ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’ was certified for sales of 2 Million by the Korea Music Content Association. The Album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 becoming BTS’ 2nd #1 Album in 2018 and their highest sales week in the country with equivalent sales of 185.000 including 141.000 pure album sales. It also became the 1st Korean Album ever to receive a RIAA Album certification and went Gold in America on November 9, 2018. “IDOL” is BTS’ 1st Song and the 1st Korean language song to reach the top 40 of the UK’s Official Singles chart, ranking at #21. ‘LOVE YOURSELF: Answer’ became BTS’ 3rd top 20 Album in the UK, peaking at #14 on the official UK chart. The Album was the 3rd most imported LP in japan of 2018!
Drake is the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2018 across digital and physical music formats according to IFPI. Drake’s 5th Studio Album, ‘Scorpion', released on June 29, 2018 by Cash Money Records, Republic Records and Young Money Records sold a total of 4.268.000 equivalent units in 2018. The Album broke multiple global records in its 1st week of release, and was the 1st Album to reach a billion streams across all platforms worldwide! In its 1st day of release, ‘Scorpion’ broke Spotify’s global record with 132.45 million streams, over 50 million plays more than the previous record, set by Post Malone’s ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys' two months earlier. It also debuted at #1 in 92 countries on iTunes and broke Apple Music's single-day record with 170 million streams, breaking Drake's own record set with ‘More Life’.
The Album was supported by the singles “God’s Plan", “Nice For what” and “In My Feelings” which all went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Global Track chart. “God’s Plan”, released in January, broke 1st day streaming records on Spotify and Apple and topped the Global Track chart for 8 consecutive weeks! Drake replaced himself at #1 on the Global track chart with “Nice For What” for 2 more weeks! “In My Feelings” topped the Global chart for 7 weeks. The Album ‘Scorpion’ was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America the day of its release, due to the track-equivalent units earned by "God's Plan", "Nice for What" and "I'm Upset”. ’Scorpion’ debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 732,000 album-equivalent units, including 160,000 pure album sales, making it the biggest first week of the year at the time. It broke the country's streaming record with 745.92 million streams in its first week. All 25 tracks on the album entered the Billboard Hot 100, and Drake became the 1st Artist to simultaneously debut 4 new songs inside the top 10 of the US Hot 100, with “Nonstop" at #2, “In My Feelings at #6,”Emotionless” at #8 and “Don’t Matter To Me" featuring Michael Jackson at #9! The album earned 335,000 equivalent units in the 2nd week, the biggest 2nd week of any Album since Adele’s ’25' in 2015. In the 3rd and 4th sales weeks, ‘Scorpion' earned 260,000 and 184,000 album-equivalent units respectively, and was the 1st Album to spend the 1st four weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 in two years, since Drake's previous Album ‘Views' in 2016. The Album spent 5 consecutive weeks on the top of the Billboard 200. ’Scorpion' sold over 3,905,000 album-equivalent units in the US, including 330,000 in pure sales. In the UK, ’Scorpion' debuted at #1 on the Official Chart selling 64,000 album-equivalent units, and remained atop the chart for 2 weeks. ’Scorpion' sold over 300,000 combined sales in the UK. In Canada, ’Scorpion' sold 70,000 equivalent units in its opening week and was ranked the most popular Album of 2018 on the Canadian Albums chart with 424,000 on-demand audio consumption units.
Ariana Grande holds atop the Global Album Chart for a 3rd week after selling another 214,000 despite tough competition from Lady Gaga's Oscar-winning soundtrack 'A Star Is Born' which sold 212,000 this week and rises 4 - 2 this week! On the yearly 2019 chart, 'A Star Is Born' is still the #1 best-selling Album this year with sales of 1,074 million, and 'Thank U, Next' is the #2 with sales of 1,066 million.
The 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Soundtrack holds tight at #3 this week with sales of 125,000 sales and a total of 2.255.000 so far!
New entry at #4 for Korean Boy Band MONSTA X and their brand new Album 'Take.2 We Are Here' which debuts with sales of 125,000 sales, 107,000 of it from South Korea according to Hanteo!
Migos’s Offset debuts at #5 with 'Father Of 4' and equivalent sales of 113.000.
New entry at #6 for Japanese Band NEWS and their Album 'Worldista' with sales of 109.000, while Gunna's 'Drip or Drown 2' debuts at #7 with sales of 104.000.
New entry at #8 for Dream Theater's 'Distance Over Time' with sales of 76.000 while Lil Pump's 'Harvard Dropout' debuts at #9 with equivalent sales of 67.000!
Closing this week's Top 10 is Queen's 'Platinum Collection' with equivalent sales of 59.000!
After their amazing performance of "Shallow" at this year's Academy Awards, Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper rocket to the top of the Global Track Chart after 22 weeks on the chart! It's Lady GaGa's 6th global #1 hit and her first in 8 years since "Born This Way" which topped the global chart for 7 weeks in 2011!
Ariana Grande's "7 Rings'" slips to #2 after 5 weeks at #1, while Ava Max's "Sweet But Psycho" slips 2 - 3.
SAM SMITH's "Dancing With A Stranger" ft. Normani rebounds 7 - 4, while Halsey's "Without Me" slips 4 - 5!
IFPI has named “Havana by Camila Cabello ft Young Thug the best-selling digital single of 2018 globally. “Havana” was released on August 3, 2017, as the 2nd single from Camila’s solo self entitled debut album ‘Camila'. Due to its immediate success, "Havana" became the official lead single replacing “Crying In The Club". "Havana" reached #1 in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the UK, Uruguay and the U.S.
In the UK, “Havana” peaked at #1 on November 3rd and stayed there for 5 whole weeks before falling behind Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. In January 2018. “Havana reached #1 on the Hot 100 after 7 weeks at #2! Camila became the 3rd Artist in chart history to top both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 for the 1st time in the same week! Only Britney Spears and Beyoncé achieved the same milestone in 1999 and 2003. “Havana” was certified 7 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association. “Havana” went to #1 on the ARIA chart in Australia after 12 weeks on the chart, becoming her 1st #1 and stayed at #1 for 3 whole weeks. “Havana” became Spotify’s most streamed Song by a solo female Artist in September 2018 with over a Billion Streams!
IFPI CEO Frances Moore said “Havana truly was the stand-out hit of the year. Momentum behind the track continued to build and build at an extraordinary rate as it consistently topped charts and leading playlists. Camila Cabello is a perfect example of an artist who has drawn on her musical roots to produce her own unique sound that is capturing the hearts of fans all over the world.”
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