[Edaily Starin YUN GI BACK Reporter] The group BTS has shaken up the global music market with their fifth studio album, “ARIRANG,” propelling South Korea to become the world’s third-largest music exporter, following the United States and the United Kingdom.

Luminate, a U.S.-based entertainment data analytics firm, released its “2026 First Half Music, TV, and Film Trends Report” on the 15th (local time). The report analyzed global content consumption trends for the first half of the year based on data including streaming, album sales, video views, and box office figures.
Rob Jonas, CEO of Luminate, stated in the report, “K-pop artists, including BTS, have been the key drivers behind the resurgence of the physical album market,” adding, “These achievements have also contributed to the nation’s brand value and the expansion of music exports, propelling South Korea to become the world’s third-largest music exporter, following the U.S. and the U.K.” In 2025, South Korea ranked fourth in music exports, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The report further analyzed, “The market structure, which has traditionally been dominated by English-language music, is shifting, and at the center of this change are global icons like BTS and Bad Bunny.”
In fact, BTS’s fifth studio album, *Arirang*, topped both the U.S. CD and vinyl (LP) album sales charts based on sales figures from just the first three months following its release on March 20. It reached No. 4 on the U.S. Top 10 Albums chart, and the title track “SWIM” recorded 987 million on-demand audio streams, placing it at No. 6 on the Global Top 10 Songs chart.
Luminate analyzed that BTS’s success has driven growth across the entire music market. On-demand audio streaming in the U.S. increased by 4.4% compared to the same period last year, while sales of physical formats—including LPs, CDs, and cassettes—rose by 7.8%. In particular, BTS’s “Arirang” drove growth in both U.S. CD and LP sales, once again demonstrating K-pop’s global influence.
In the top 10 U.S. CD sales for the first half of the year, alongside “Arirang,” ENHYPEN’s “The X: Vanish” ranked second, ATEEZ’s “Golden Hour: Part 4’ at No. 3, ‘Golden Hour: Part 5’ at No. 4, Cortice’s ‘Green Green’ at No. 5, Stray Kids’ ‘Do It’ at No. 6, and Tomorrow X Together’s ‘Seventh Year: When the Wind Stopped for a Moment in the Thicket’ at No. 7.
BTS’s success has also fueled the overall growth of the K-pop market. According to import-export trade statistics from the Korea Customs Service, music album exports (HS Code 8523.49.1040, based on the date of customs clearance) in the first half of this year totaled $257.47 million (approximately 382.3 billion won), marking a 125% increase compared to the same period last year and setting a record high for the first half of the year. K-pop’s global influence has further expanded, with the United States overtaking Japan to take the top spot among export destinations. Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Poland followed, rounding out the top 10 export destinations.
The physical album market also rebounded. According to Circle Chart data, cumulative album sales for the first half of this year reached approximately 55 million copies, an increase of about 11 million copies compared to the same period last year. While this figure is about 700,000 copies lower than the first half of 2023—when annual sales exceeded 100 million copies—there is speculation that if the growth trend continues in the second half of the year, annual sales could once again reach 100 million copies for the first time in three years.