BTS control the Billboard Global 200 chart once again this week, as their new single “Butter” doesn’t move an inch. The tune started off at No. 1 last frame, and now it’s a steady ruler, claiming not only another stint atop the tally, but one of the largest streaming sums in the history of the worldwide list.
Thanks to their performance in the previous tracking frame, BTS now claim the three largest streaming sums in the history of Billboard’s weekly ranking of the most-consumed songs in the world. The group has hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 with four tracks, and two of them have accrued truly eye-popping streaming counts.
Last week, “Butter” absolutely smashed the previous record for the largest streaming sum on the Billboard Global 200. The summer-ready track opened at No. 1 with 289.2 million plays. It still stand as the only cut to rack up at least 200 million streams globally in just seven days, and it almost doubled the best showing that came before it (more on that in a moment).
This frame, “Butter” holds at No. 1 thanks to another week of healthy sales and 169.8 million plays on streaming platforms all around the world. That number now stands as the second-largest stream count yet in the history of the Billboard Global 200.
The third-largest streaming sum seen on the Billboard Global 200 in the almost-year it’s been around also belongs to BTS, but they managed it with a different song. Last December, the South Korean septet blasted onto the ranking at No. 1 with “Life Goes On,” which instantly became their third leader on the tally. The Korean-language smash arrived with 152.2 million streams, which stood as the most impressive figure when looking solely at plays on streaming sites until “Butter” debuted.
When compiling the weekly Billboard Global 200 chart, Billboard takes into account both plays on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer and many others, as well as sales. A track typically needs sizable counts of both to hit No. 1, or overwhelming popularity on either format to lead the charge.
