LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 20: Music group BTS performs at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM … [+] Grand Garden Arena on May 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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BTS fans have been waiting patiently since the middle of 2019 for a new album, and once it was finally announced, they wasted no time in rushing to purchase the title, even though it would be weeks before they finally got to hear the collection in full.
Now, just a short time before the set has arrived, it’s already made history with an incredible sales figure.
BTS’s new album Map of the Soul: 7 has already been pre-ordered 4.02 million times, according to The Korea Herald, which cites figures provided by the group’s management company and record label Big Hit Entertainment. The firm backed up its claim with data from record distributor Dreamus Company.
With over four million copies ordered and paid for, Map of the Soul: 7 has already become the most-pre-ordered album from South Korea ever. That number is also a surefire sign that BTS, already the most successful vocal group on the planet right now, is only becoming more and more popular with every passing release, and they are gaining new fans all the time.
That four million number is confirmation of an estimate published a few weeks ago, and it’s possible that Map of the Soul: 7 actually passed that milestone a while back, but the company only decided to reveal it now, perhaps as a way to hype up the massive album even more. Map of the Soul: 7 arrives on Friday, February 21 on streaming platforms, digital download platforms and store shelves everywhere. It is expected to top charts in a number of countries, especially in the U.S., U.K. and, of course, South Korea.
While the four million pre-orders sum wasn’t broken down by country, it’s fair to expect that a large share of those purchases came from South Korea, where the band is more popular than anywhere else and where millions are still in favor of purchasing music. Their last proper album, 2019’s Map of the Soul: Persona (the first in a new series of full-lengths), ended the year having sold over 3.7 million copies, enough to give it the title of the bestselling release of all time.
With four million units already sold, there’s no telling how high that sum may climb after the album is actually released. Many fans will rush to buy it when it drops, and others will stick to streaming the set, which will add to its cumulative total, though not its actual sales count.
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