BTS look set to break records again with new album and Map of the Soul ON:E concerts in Seoul
BTS’ record label Big Hit Entertainment has announced socially distanced live concerts, in front of a limited audience in Seoul, ahead of the band’s long-awaited new album confirmed to drop in late 2020 – as well as 2 new boy bands and a multinational girl group also launching on the label soon
“BTS will play the long-awaited ‘BTS Map of the Soul ON:E’ gig,” Big Hit’s global CEO Lenzo Yoon said. “I hope the concerts can be a big gift for the singers and their followers.”
Big Hit confirmed the plan through an official statement released after the briefing, saying: “BTS’ concerts will take place on October 10-11 in Seoul. For offline gigs, we will only open a limited number of seats to practice social distancing.” It added the offline shows will be streamed online at the same time.
Although the seven-piece act was scheduled to embark on a world tour in April, it called off or postponed all concerts following the virus outbreak.
The company’s founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk also revealed the septet is set to release a fresh album in the fourth quarter, but did not announce the exact date. He said rookie group TXT will also return with new music this fall.
“Big Hit and its labels including Belift Lab and Source Music are also planning to launch two fresh boy bands in 2020 and 2022, respectively, and a new multinational girl group in 2021,” he said.
Bang also disclosed that Big Hit’s estimated sales revenue during the first half of this year was 294 billion won (US$244.8 million), with an estimated operating profit of 49.7 billion won. The estimates of sales and operating profit saw 46.9 per cent and 27.1 per cent jumps, respectively, from the same period last year.
