KPop Demon Hunters' four-fold Billboard Success!

From the land of cherry blossoms and oh-so-obsessive KPop fans comes a soundtrack that's sweeping the nation by storm, "KPop Demon Hunters". The needle has been moved - not one, two, or three, but four times! This week, four of its tracks are lounging comfortably in the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 at the same time - that's some serious sorcery!

Now, let's dive in. "Golden" is resting comfortably at No.1 for the second week after booting Alex Warren’s "Ordinary". And it's far from lonely – "Your Idol", "Soda Pop", and the newcomer to the top, "How It’s Done", are sharing the top ten real estate. This quadruple success marks the first time in the Hot 100 history that a single soundtrack has managed such a feat.

Sure, there have been four other soundtracks that managed to pop out top 10 songs, but never simultaneously – like a perfectly synchronized KPop dance routine. Many of us may not remember, but back in the day (1995-96 to be precise), "Waiting to Exhale" spun off five top 10 hits, although not concurrently. And dating even further back, in 1978, "Saturday Night Fever" managed three top five hits at the same time, mirroring the success of this colorful anime universe from Sony Pictures Animation.

For most industry insiders, "Golden" has been the song sparkling brightest for longer than just two weeks, despite a shy presence on radio. But, as streaming continues on an upward trajectory, radio seems to finally be catching up – "Golden" garnered a whopping 16.2 million radio airplay audience impressions, rising by an impressive 39%.

Now, although streaming and radio play for "Golden" may have their imbalance, the track's undeniable magnetism keeps it soaring high on the Hot 100. And the direction is only up, especially with the recent sing-along screenings of "KPop Demon Hunters" filling cinemas and topping the box office charts.

Data from Spotify only augments this bullish trend - the soundtrack currently dominates the top seven slots on the daily U.S. chart. The No. 2 song, strangely enough, is still Warren's previously dethroned "Ordinary", which largely owes its footing to steady radio airplay, while the No. 3 spot remains occupied by Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want”, featuring Tate McRae.

On a different note, while "KPop Demon Hunters" may rule the airplay battlefield, it's chasing Wallen’s “I’m the Problem" for the top position in the Billboard 200 albums chart in a neck-to-neck race. Wallen's album, which is currently at No. 1, had 121,000 equivalent album units for the week, with "KPop" just a few strides behind with 108,000.

Among others making waves is Conan Gray’s “Wishbone” debuting at No. 3, his best chart performance to date. Two 2024 releases, Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department”, have also gained momentum, returning to the top 10, and giving us all something to groove to this week.