Why K-pop’s Blackpink is the biggest band in the world and how BTS could be next, according to Bloomberg
- Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw explains how the news agency’s Pop Star Power Rankings relies on six metrics to reflect a musician’s or band’s popularity
- Ahead of BTS’ new album, he says he can see the boy band topping the rankings at some point
What does it mean to be the biggest pop band in the world? Bloomberg’s monthly Pop Star Power Rankings list is trying to answer that question.
The news agency’s list made waves last week when it named K-pop quartet Blackpink as the biggest band in the world in October. The girl group topped the chart, which was released on November 10, after a successful October that witnessed the launch of their long-awaited first LP, “The Album”, as well as the release of their Netflix documentary, Blackpink: Light Up the Sky.
The K-pop group, made up of members Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa, were named No 1 in the world due to their world-beating YouTube views of more than 1 billion in October alone, along with their No 2 ranking on Spotify with 319 million streams. They were No 9 on the list of album sales, with 192,500 recorded.
In comparison, US rapper Pop Smoke came in second overall. He was ranked No 1 on Spotify and No 2 regarding album sales, but dropped to No 19 for YouTube views.
While Blackpink hit No 1 on the ranking, BTS, another popular K-pop act, ranked No 10. They were No 2 on YouTube that month, and are expected to appear higher on Bloomberg’s list for November after the release of their new album “BE” on Friday.