BTS's fifth studio album "Arirang" has surpassed 5 billion cumulative streams on Spotify, according to the group's label BigHit Music, which announced the milestone on Wednesday, October 14.

Yonhap reports the total marks the highest number of streams among all albums released this year, registering 2 billion more than the runner-up, Olivia Rodrigo's third studio album "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love."

The album also outpaced new releases from Bruno Mars and Harry Styles, which collected roughly 1 billion and 2 billion streams respectively, per Yonhap.

The milestone arrives roughly seven months after the album's March 20 release, its first full-group project in nearly four years following all seven members' military service.

The margin is what fans and outlets are fixating on: The Korea Daily describes the lead over Olivia Rodrigo's album — itself at about 3 billion streams — as an "overwhelming performance" of more than 2 billion streams, a dominant run against contemporary releases by global pop stars.

Chosunbiz notes the album's streaming strength comes from "balanced consumption across all tracks" rather than a single hit carrying the total.

The surprise extends to the album's oddest track: "No. 29," which Yonhap says features only the tolling of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok of ancient Silla, has reached 200 million streams.

The numbers behind the 5 billion are unusually broad. Yonhap and the Korea JoongAng Daily report that "Swim," the lead track, is approaching 1 billion streams, while all 14 tracks on the album have each surpassed 200 million.

Chosunbiz adds that on release day the album's total plays exceeded 110 million, and that it occupied positions one through 14 on Spotify's Daily Top Songs Global chart.

That outlet also reports "SWIM" recorded about 14 million first-day streams — the highest single-day plays for any song released in 2026.

The streaming milestone follows a U.S. chart run the pack's outlets treat as historic. Yonhap reports "Arirang" became the first album from a group to top the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks since Mumford & Sons' "Babel" achieved the feat in 2012.

Chosunbiz frames it further: the album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated April 4, the highest record for a group album since Billboard introduced unit-based tabulation in December 2014.

Both attributions point to a reunion album converting four years of anticipation into sustained chart dominance rather than a single-week spike.

Korea JoongAng Daily emphasizes that "Arirang" attracted major attention as the first full-group project from the group in nearly four years, released after all seven members completed their mandatory military service and reunited.

That context is central to how outlets read the streaming totals: a four-year gap typically erodes momentum, yet the album opened with 110 million release-day streams on March 20, according to Yonhap.

Related coverage in the pack shows "Arirang" world tour stops generating headlines of their own — the Korea JoongAng Daily's related articles note Lima rolling out the purple carpet ahead of Peru concerts and BTS being named Bogotá's guests of honor as the tour reaches Colombia.

Yonhap's related items add that BTS became the first pop group to surpass US$500 million in tour ticket sales, suggesting the streaming record is one thread in a larger 2026 reunion-era run.