SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – NOVEMBER 20: S.Coups, JeongHan, Jun, Hoshi, WonWoo, Woozi, DK, MinGyu, The8, … [+]
Every month, Gaon, an organization in South Korea that compiles and publishes the music charts, also doles out highly-coveted certifications for those albums and songs that have reached special sales thresholds. The company has only been announcing these awards for a few years, so it’s still common for some of the biggest acts in the business to make history with some regularity, collecting new prizes and proving over and over that they are among the most successful in the Asian nation.
This month, seven albums received certifications of some kind, going platinum, double platinum or even earning a certification for selling two million copies. Three of the biggest boy groups in the history of the South Korean music industry collect new honors, and in doing so, they once again tie each other (and another beloved band) for the most such prizes in the country’s music industry.
BTS, Seventeen and NCT Dream all nab one more certification from Gaon this month, adding to their ever-expanding totals. The boy bands now count six album certifications apiece, finally matching girl group Twice, who earned their milestone sixth honor just a month ago.
Of the trio, BTS score the larger of the prizes, as their most recent release, Butter, has turned out to be unbeatable. The single album, which features two singles—the title track, follow-up smash “Permission to Dance” as well as instrumentals of both cuts—has now been certified for selling two million units. It is one of just two efforts to make it to that mark so far in 2021 in South Korea, and the short set is one of only seven projects in the country’s history to earn the lofty honor.
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In fact, Butter has already sold more than 2.5 million copies since being released in mid-July. That sum includes only purchases of the full single album, and not of the tune itself or second single “Permission to Dance.” Both of those tracks became huge successes on their own, and they powered the single album as well.
Seventeen doesn’t quite match BTS’s performance this time around in terms of the type of award they collect, but they also snag a sixth certification. The all-male vocal act’s Director’s Cut, itself a reissued version of their sophomore album Teen, Age, hits platinum status this month for the first time. The project was released back in 2018, so it’s a little surprising it took years for it to advance to the lowest level of certification, but fans are surely happy it’s there.
NCT Dream sees the kit version of their title Hello Future make it to platinum status for the first time, which isn’t shocking, as it’s still relatively new. The set is a repackaging of their debut album Hot Sauce, and the music on these collections has proved to be incredibly successful, as fans keep buying the cuts over and over. Hot Sauce itself earned a two million certification earlier this summer, while the original Hello Future has gone triple platinum.
BTS have now seen the following half-dozen releases earn some kind of certification from Gaon: Butter, Be, Map of the Soul: Persona, Map of the Soul: 7, BTS World and Love Yourself: Tear. Matching the septet (in terms of the number of honors, at least), Seventeen’s albums that have been certified now include: Director’s Cut, Your Choice, An Ode, Semicolon, You Made My Dawn, Heng:garae. In addition to the three aforementioned projects, NCT Dream has also scored certifications for their releases We Go Up, Reload and We Boom, bringing their total to an even six.
