BTS beats Adele and Ed Sheeran to win IFPI’s best-selling artist in the world

For the second year in a row, the South Korean K-pop group BTS was chosen to receive the Global Recording Artist of the Year, an award from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which elects the ten best-selling artists worldwide.

This was the first time in the award’s history that the same artist/group won two years in a row – they were also the first Koreans to top the list in 2020.

The award shows the worldwide performance of an artist or group, whether in digital or physical media format – such as performance on streaming platforms or record sales, including concert success, number of albums released, repercussion and promotion.

In 2021, BTS released “Butter” in May, ranking number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks. In July, the group’s new single, “Permission to Dance”, also debuted at number one on the Hot 100. In September, Coldplay and BTS released the single “My Universe”, which also reached number one in the US. The group also stood out in Asia.

This week, the agency that represents BTS announced that the group will return to the US stage in April, when they present their “Permission to Dance on Stage” tour on April 8 and 9 and April 15 and 16 in Las Vegas.

In second place on the 2021 IFPI list is the singer Taylor Swift – in 2021, she re-recorded her major albums such as “Red” and “Fearless”. Then there’s the singer Adele, which stood out with the album “30”. The awards also included Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd. Check out the full list of the best-selling artists of 2021 below:

1. BTS
2. Taylor Swift
3. Adele
4. Drake
5. Ed Sheeran
6. The Weeknd
7. Billie Eilish
8. Justin Bieber
9. Seventeen
10. Olivia Rodrigo