WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 07: (L-R) V, SUGA, Jin, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, and Jungkook of BTS … [+] attend the 2019 Variety’s Hitmakers Brunch at Soho House on December 07, 2019 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
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At this point, it’s difficult to argue that BTS isn’t the biggest musical group in the world, at least when looking at acts which are currently still producing new music which makes a noticeable impact on charts all around the globe. They are constantly showing that they can rack up impressive stream counts on platforms like Spotify and YouTube, and they are one of the only major players in the business who can still sell an album, as most acts now rely almost exclusively on streaming.
Whenever BTS has a new album to deliver, everybody else better get out of the way, because there’s a great chance it’s heading straight for the No. 1 spot…but this frame, something is amiss. Not only did the band’s latest offering fail to reach the top rung on the Billboard 200 albums ranking, it didn’t even rise into the upper half of the 200-space tally.
So, what happened?
BTS’s new album Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ reaches the Billboard 200 this frame, but its starting point is not a very impressive one. The title debuts at No. 115, making it the band’s second-lowest-charting title yet. It comes in behind only The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, which stalled at No. 171, but that was way back in 2015, before they were proper superstars in America.
What hurt Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ the most in the U.S. was its release date. The vast majority of albums are released early on Fridays, as that is when the tracking period officially begins in nearly every music market in the world. Songs and full-lengths have from the beginning of Friday until the end of the following Thursday in which to rack up as many streams and sales as possible, and all that activity helps place it on the Billboard charts (looking only at America here) the following frame.
Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ was released on Wednesday, July 15, which means it lands at No. 115 on the Billboard 200 after only two days of tracking activity. That’s a pretty serious handicap, and when that context is applied, its lowly starting position isn’t actually so bad, as there are countless well-known musicians who wouldn’t have made it to the ranking at all if they were in the same position.
It’s also worth noting that Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ was only available on streaming sites and for purchase digitally, while a physical edition of the title should be for sale in the United States next month. BTS has separated themselves from every other name in the industry with their ability to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of a new release on physical formats, and their fans have taken to collecting them. The fact that buying the new release on CD wasn’t an option may also have kept some listeners from purchasing the set.
There is still a chance—a fairly good one, actually—that Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ will advance on the Billboard 200 in the coming frames. In fact, after its first full tracking period has wrapped, it might jump up the tally, though where it will land is hard to predict. The title may also improve its standing when fans can buy a physical copy in America, though the timing of that launch may not be ideal for sending the project toward the top of the most competitive albums ranking in the country.
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