K-pop megastars BTS have one of the most dedicated fanbases in the world, but recently it was suggested they had manipulated their chart performance.
The group’s latest single “Butter,” which is hopefully set to get a Megan Thee Stallion remix soon, is the longest-running No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 this year. Some fans of competing acts have suggested it was only through organized “manipulation” of the charts from the BTS fanbase, known as ARMY, that the group was able achieve such success. While the fans are very dedicated and often extremely organized, BTS member RM firmly shut down accusations that “manipulative” tactics are in play.
“It’s a fair question,” RM said in a Billboard cover story. “But if there is a conversation inside Billboard about what being No. 1 should represent, then it’s up to them to change the rules and make streaming weigh more on the ranking. Slamming us or our fans for getting to No. 1 with physical sales and downloads, I don’t know if that’s right. … It just feels like we’re easy targets because we’re a boy band, a K-pop act, and we have this high fan loyalty.”
The basis for the accusations stem from how BTS, per fans of other acts cited by Billboard, gets a higher percentage of sales versus streaming data, unlike a good majority of other popular acts.
As is the case with most No. 1 songs in the U.S., streaming is the biggest contributor to chart success. BTS and its label Big Hit Music often drop multiple versions of each release, but it’s worth highlighting that this is a common practice across all popular music. “Butter,” for instance, had a total of eight versions across both digital and physical releases.
Some fans of the boy band are so passionate that they’ve pooled money together to help buy more purchases that count toward sales in the U.S., Billboard reports. This has resulted in accusations that ARMY used “fraudulent ways” to push BTS to the No. 1 spot, but music sales data company MRC Data has not raised any concerns about suspicious chart activity.
Big Hit Music president Shin Young-Jae was asked if the label or its parent company HYBE had engaged in organization efforts for fans, which he promptly refuted. "Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually had the ability to mastermind such a thing?” he said. “I get that there are market developments [related to BTS] that are head-scratchers for some people. But I don’t believe the U.S. market is one that can be handily topped by downloads alone. We think the songs’ impact was shown in many ways, and we are proud of that achievement.”
