The South Korean pop group BTS won top awards in the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs).
The show, which aired Sunday on the network, saw BTS picking up four awards, including best song for “Dynamite” and best group. They also won awards for best fans and best virtual live for their Bang Bang Con.
This year’s EMAs aimed to honor the best in global music and invited top performers, such as Alicia Keys, Sam Smith, and Doja Cat. The show was also hosted by the British girl group Little Mix.
The Korean band edged out 5 Seconds of Summer, Blackpink, and Chloe x Halle for best group honors. Their English-track “Dynamite” also beat songs like DaBaby’s “Rockstar (ft Roddy Rich), Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me,” and Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” for best song.
Last year, BTS also won the most awards among any artist for the same show. They picked up best group, best live, and biggest fans categories.
BTS and their fans—the Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth (ARMY) —are poised to change the global music industry, according to Variety. In 2019, the Korean pop group sold out their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself stadiums, earning $116 million for each night of the 20-day tour.
A 2018 study conducted by the Hyundai Research Institute estimated that the boy band had contributed $4.9 billion annually to South Korea’s GDP. The study also found that in 2017, one in 13 visitors came to the country for BTS-related reasons.
Spotify, a music streaming platform, reported a 300% spike in new listeners after the group released “Dynamite” on August 21. BTS also has 29.9 million followers on Twitter and 30.6 million followers on Instagram, both of which are growing every day.
BTS’s fame also generated 97.4% of Big Hit Entertainment’s revenue in 2019. The company is expected to launch an IPO in October, with each band member getting $8 million in shares. Their merchandise, which includes T-shirts, cosmetics, and dolls, generated $130 million last year.
In 2017, BTS became the most-tweeted-about celebrities in the United States and across the globe, Billboard reported.
BTS, which stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The band, which consists of seven members, gained attention through their presence on social media websites and song covers on YouTube.
In 2013, the Korean band released their debut single album “2 Cool 4 Skool,” with its lead single “No More Dream.” The song drew criticism from the K-pop industry and Hip Hop community. However, the song failed to pick up, peaking only at number 124 in Korea before falling off. Their debut album also sold only 24,000 copies in the year it was released.
In 2014, the release of the last act of their “school trilogy” topped the Gaon Album chart and sold over 100,000 copies. It also marked the band’s first appearance on the Billboard World Albums Chart.
BTS broke through and found commercial success in 2016, after releasing “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever.” Their album topped Gaon Weekly Chart in Korea and peaked at number 107 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Their 2016 album led them to be invited to perform at the U.S. KCON in June and July. Both performances had sold-out audiences. Their success allowed them to expand their influences worldwide.
In 2017, BTS released their Love Yourself era album. Commercially, Love Yourself: Tear— the second album from the era—was one of the band’s most successful album. The album topped the U.S. Billboard 200 at the time of its release, making it the first K-pop album to top the U.S. album chart.
