BTS released their EP Map of the Soul: Persona in April 2019. The album debuted at No.1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and reached the No. 1 spot on the iTunes chart in 87 countries. On Nov. 11, 2019, Map of the Soul: Persona reentered the charts.
Why did Map of the Soul: Persona suddenly climb iTunes charts months after its initial release? BTS fans purchased the album after feeling wronged by the People’s Choice Awards. That’s right. An entire fandom charted an album seven months after its release out of spite. Because their voting dedication towards the PCAs did not work out, BTS fans focused their energy into making something positive for BTS.
BTS did not win any awards at the PCAs
The PCAs aired on Nov. 10, and BTS was up for three different awards: Favorite Group of 2019, Concert Tour of 2019, and Music Video of 2019. During the awards show, BTS fans trended #ThePeopleChooseBTS and shared stories about how much the group means to them. The posts touched upon how BTS creates meaningful music and connects people around the world.
In the end, BTS did not win any awards at the PCAs. ARMY felt disappointed at the results, and because this is the same fandom that collectively created their own awards show during the MTV VMAs, fans made the most of the situation. In an effort to change the focus from the PCAs to BTS’s music, ARMY set their sights on BTS’s Map of the Soul: Persona.
‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ reached the No.2 spot on the US iTunes chart
On Twitter, ARMY trended #BuyPERSONAoniTunes. After a few hours the hashtag reached 1 million tweets. Fans from all over the world donated funds to fans who could not afford the album. While the results of the PCAs sparked the inspiration for the idea, it transformed into an organized fan-generated movement. It was ARMY’s way of turning a negative situation into something positive for BTS.
Map of the Soul: Persona is currently the best-selling album of 2019 with over 4 million albums sold worldwide. BTS achieved this without bundles, meaning all of the sales are organic. The #BuyPERSONAoniTunes movement will no doubt contribute more to those organic sales.
Within a few hours, Map of the Soul: Persona reached the No.2 spot on the U.S. iTunes chart. The album rose 1090 spots on the U.S. iTunes Top Albums chart in less than 24 hours. Map of the Soul: Persona also re-peaked at the No.1 spot on iTunes charts in 35 countries.
ARMY did not stop there. After Map of the Soul: Persona re-peaked on several iTunes charts BTS fans began charting other BTS albums. RM’s mixtape mono reached the No.24 spot in the U.S. iTunes chart, J-Hope’s mixtape Hope World reached the No.73 spot, and Suga’s mixtape Agust D reached the No.124 spot.
On the same chart, Love Yourself: Answer reached No.122, Dark & Wild reached No.112, Love Yourself: Tear reached No.144, and Love Yourself: Her reached No.189. With this, eight of BTS’s albums reentered the top 200 spots of the U.S. iTunes Top Albums chart. In total, a majority of BTS’s discography was present with 17 BTS albums on the chart.
ARMY marveled at their own power while charting the albums
What started as a spontaneous idea ended up being a well-organized and momentous movement. Map of the Soul: Persona re-peaked on countless iTunes charts and rose 1090 spots on the U.S. iTunes chart. A majority of BTS’s discography also reentered the U.S. iTunes chart. On social media, ARMY marveled at what they were able to accomplish in less than a day.
“There was not even a promo or an incentive of any kind. This is entirely fan generated. Nothing can compare to that level of global commitment, organization, or spontaneity,” a fan tweeted.
“imagine pissing millions of fans off so much they rechart an album released 7 months ago and move it nearly +800 spots on that chart. imagine. doing that,” wrote a Twitter user.
“ARMYS REALLY RECHARTED PERSONA OUT OF ANGER NEARLY 800+ PLACES HIGHER KARMA IS AN ARMY YALLSKDJ,” one fan tweeted.
“BTS lost an award so y’all made their album go up 773 places on the iTunes chart pLEASE that’s so funny I wish I was that coordinated in real life,” a Twitter user wrote.