BTS’ ARIRANG debuts with 641k (532k pure sales) units on Billboard 200

March 29

BTS’ ARIRANG debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 4), scoring the reunited pop group their seventh leader. The set opens with 641,000 equivalent album units earned — the largest week for an album by a group since the chart began measuring by units in December 2014. Of that sum, 532,000 are in pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital albums), landing BTS the biggest sales week for an album by a group in more than a decade.

Of ARIRANG’s 641,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, pure album sales comprise 532,000, SEA units comprise 95,000 (equaling 99.10 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs)

BTS has the biggest week for any album by a group, by units, since the Billboard 200 began ranking by equivalent album units in December 2014. The last group to have a larger sales week was One Direction, with the debut week of Midnight Memories (547,000 sold, Dec. 14, 2013-dated chart).

ARIRANG’s first-week sales number was largely powered by physical sales (516,000) bolstered by its availability across 17 vinyl variants and 9 CD editions. (All contain collectible items such as photocards, stickers and posters.) Vinyl sales accounted for 208,000 — the sixth-largest vinyl sales week for an album in the modern era.