On Thursday, Mar. 11, IFPI released their IFPI Global Album Sales Chart for 2020. Among the top 10, we saw two K-pop acts make the list - BLACKPINK and BTS. Keep on reading to learn more.

What is the IFPI? What is the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart?

The IFPI describes itself as the "voice of the recording industry." The institution represents over 8,000 record company members across the globe. IFPI strives to promote the value of recorded music and continuously campaigns for the rights of record producers. They also aim to expand the commercial uses of recorded music worldwide.

The IFPI Global Album Chart is an annual music chart that combines global sales of both physical and digital albums to uncover and rank the top albums of the year.

BLACKPINK Ranks No. Five with "THE ALBUM"

BLACKPINK was able to make it to the top 5 with their first-ever full-length Korean-language studio album, "THE ALBUM."

"THE ALBUM" is the group's second overall studio album, but the first Korean-language one, having released their first studio album, "BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA," in 2018 as a Japanese release. This is BLACKPINK's debut in the IFPI charts.

"THE ALBUM," which was released in Oct. 2020, earned praise for the girl's musicality and its star-studded features, Selena Gomez and Cardi B. It broke S.E.S's 21-year-old record of the best-selling album by a K-pop group.

As of press time, "THE ALBUM" is the best-selling girl group album in South Korean history, beating out "My Dear" by Pearl Sisters, a record the latter has had since 1968.

Previously, YG Entertainment announced that "THE ALBUM" surpassed 800,000 pre-orders in just six days, with 530,000 of the pre-orders coming from South Korea alone. By the album's release date, "THE ALBUM" surpassed 1,000,000 pre-orders.

BTS Has Three Albums on The IFPI Global Album Sales Chart

BTS had not one, not two, but three albums make it to the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart!

The first album to be named is their Japanese release, "Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey," which ranked at number eight. "Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey" was released on Jul. 2020 as the group's fourth Japanese studio album. The album reportedly sold 500,000 copies within the first two days of its release, breaking the record for the highest first-week sales of 2020.

In Japan, "Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey" broke TVXQ's record for the highest first-week sales by a male foreign artist, a record TVXQ has had for ten years.

ALSO READ: BTS Named IFPI’s Global Recording Artist of 2020

According to the IFPI, "Map of the Soul: 7- The Journey" is BTS's first Japanese studio album in two years and saw two-times as many first-day sales as its predecessor, "Face Yourself."

The second album by BTS to make it to the list is their Nov. 2020 release, "BE." Despite being released at the end of 2020, "BE" still managed to climb up the second-place spot. "BE" debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, making it the K-pop group's fifth number-one album in the country. "BE" also debuted at the top of the Gaon Album Chart, selling 2.274 million copies within the first week of its release. "BE" also topped the charts in 10+ countries.

The final BTS album mentioned is the album that ranked at the top of IFPI's Global Album Sales Chart, officially making them the winner of the said chart. "Map of the Soul: 7" is officially 2020's top album. According to IFPI, it is one of the most pre-ordered albums of all time and swiftly made it to the top of the charts in over 20+ countries!

"Map of the Soul: 7" is also the first-ever album to receive the Global Album All Format Chart Award.

ALSO READ: BTS's 'Dynamite' Makes It to IFPI's 'Global Digital Single Chart 2020'

 
"Map of the Soul: 7" is South Korea's best-selling album of all time. In just nine days of its release, "Map of the Soul: 7" sold over 4.1 million copies. It is the first album in South Korea to be certified as a quadruple million and is still the only artist to have achieved this. The album's title track, "ON," garnered 18.3 million streams in the United States alone within the first week of its release.

Additionally, BTS is the only artist with multiple albums on the IFPI Global album Sales Chart.

Congratulations, BLACKPINK and BTS!

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Written by Alexa Lewis