BTS joins Spotify’s ‘For the Record’ to discuss success of Dynamite, ARMY and more
There’s no denying that Korean pop sensation BTS has taken the world by storm. In fact, when the seven-member band released their first English-language single Dynamite last month, the song set a new record on Spotify with 12.6 million streams within the first 24 hours.
Ever since the K-pop group released Dynamite, it sparked a 300 percent increase in the number of people listening to the band for the first time on Spotify. The group also became the first Korean artists to debut at number 1 on the Spotify Global Top 50 chart. To date, BTS has more than 11.4 billion streams on Spotify while Dynamite has been added to more than 3.5 million playlists.
In celebration of the historic milestone, Suga, RM, J-Hope and V joined the latest episode of Spotify’s For the Record podcast series to provide a behind-the-scenes look into their creative process and their appreciation for their dedicated fan base, ARMY. The BTS: The Band, The Brand & The ARMY episode also featured TIME Magazine Editor and K-Pop aficionado Kat Moon to give additional perspective on BTS’ remarkable journey.
Sharing more on the success of Dynamite within the episode, Suga says, “I think it appeals to and it's easy to listen to and it's easy to enjoy for anybody, anyone of any generation, anyone. And especially with the COVID-19 situation, we wanted to write a song that has bright, uplifting lyrics. And we're really glad that people have come to enjoy this song, and get some energy from this song.”
RM also shares insight into their music making process, “It's very, various, sometimes we start with melodies. Sometimes we start with some – just a word or a theme. But basically, when there's an album, there's some kind of like a theme or a keyword that comes, that goes through the whole album. And if we succeed to, like, make a decision for the keyword, then everybody gathers and we guess the tracks and melodies and lyrics or whatever. So it's like making a puzzle when we try to make an album.”
J-Hope continued, “The music making process is difficult, they sort of think of it as in birthing pains. So it takes a lot of focus and a lot of attention, a lot of time because they put in so much; when we have a good result and when we see the result, we feel really proud and we get a real sense of accomplishment.”
Finally, V weighed in on the best part of their job, “I think the best part is 'ARMY.' They're the reason we perform. And it's their energy and their support that allows us to keep going. So they, our ARMY, our fans, are really the best part of this job.”
Check out the new episode of this week's Spotify: For The Record below: