BTS continues to show their appeal in the US market when the indicators of recognition, likeability and music consumption all recorded positive results.
According to a survey of American music consumers in Q2/2026 by Luminate, 42% of respondents said they knew about BTS, while 46% of those who recognized the group said they loved BTS.
This is the highest rating BTS has ever recorded in Luminate's surveys. In 2021, this rate was 34%, then increased by 12 percentage points. Recognition also increased from 36% to 42% in the same period.
The rate of 42% is significantly higher than the average of 24% of all surveyed artists. Meanwhile, 22 K-pop artists and groups in the survey had an average recognition rate of only 11%.
BTS's influence is not only concentrated in young audiences. Specifically, 43% of people aged 13-17, 59% of people aged 18-24 and 56% of people aged 25-34 said they knew about the group. This rate is 44% in the 35-54 age group and 28% in the 55-year-old group.
In particular, more than half of Americans aged 18-34 surveyed know BTS.
Among those who know the group, 19% said they "love it very much" and 27% "love it quite a bit" BTS. In general, the like rate reached 46%.
The 13-17 year old group has the highest rate of BTS likes, at 60%. The 18-24 year old, 25-34 year old, 35-54 year old and 55 year old and older groups reached 47%, 44%, 48% and 40% respectively.
BTS's appeal is also reflected in album sales in the US. The 5th studio album "Arirang" sold 516,000 physical copies in its first week of release, of which about 208,000 were vinyl (LP), accounting for nearly 40%.
This is the highest weekly vinyl sales in BTS's career, and also the highest weekly vinyl sales for a group since Luminate began statistics in 1991.
The high vinyl rating of "Arirang" also shows that the album tends to consume similarly to the best-selling products of top pop artists in the US.
The album's appeal continues to be maintained on online platforms. After 8 weeks of release, "Arirang" reached 3.8 billion global streaming hits. This number exceeded 4.8 billion hits in week 12 and nearly reached 5.7 billion hits in week 16.
In the same 16 weeks, BTS's entire music library reached about 8.7 billion global streams, of which pre-released songs "Arirang" contributed about 3 billion streams.
The above figures show that BTS is maintaining its appeal in the US in many aspects, from recognition, likes to album sales and online listens. In particular, the group's widespread recognition in many age groups shows that BTS's influence is not limited to the fan community.
With recognition far exceeding the average of the surveyed artists, along with outstanding achievements in vinyl and streaming sales, BTS continues to consolidate their position as one of the most influential K-pop artists in the US market. New data also shows that the group's appeal is still maintained even after many years of operation, while expanding from fandom to the general public.
BigHit Music commented that the survey results reflect that BTS has built a widespread public platform in the US. vinyl sales and high streaming volume are also indicators showing the group's long-term influence in the global music market.
