NewJeans break Guinness World Record to become fastest K-pop act to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify

K-pop girl group NewJeans has broken a Guinness World Record - Copyright ADOR - HYBE

Published on 09/05/2023 - 14:39

The K-pop quintet reached the milestone in 219 days, breaking a Guinness World Record.

NewJeans have become the fastest K-pop group to reach 1billion streams on Spotify, breaking a Guinness World Record that was previously held by BTS ’ Jungkook and BLACKPINK ’s Lisa.

The record-breaking feat – across both group and solo K-pop acts, regardless of gender – was confirmed by their label ADOR, a subsidiary of HYBE, in a press release.

It took the five-piece girl group 219 days to reach the huge figure, hitting it on 8 May 2023.

Jungkook was the last artist to hold the record, taking 409 days to reach 1 billion streams on the platform and achieving the feat on 27 March 2023. Lisa set the bar before him, hitting the milestone within 411 days on 26 October 2022. As it stands, Jungkook still holds the title as the fastest K-pop soloist to achieve the feat.

For context, Miley Cyrus' song ‘Flowers’, the lead single from her ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ album, recently hit the billion-stream milestone in just 112 days after its release on 12 January. However, Cyrus in on her eighth album and has been on the international music scene since 2006.

NewJeans by comparison, have not yet released their debut album.

Currently, NewJeans only has six songs available on Spotify – its four-track debut EP 'NewJeans', released last year, and the recent singles 'Ditto' and 'OMG', which are the band’s most streamed songs with 313.2 million and 312.4 million respectively as of May 2023. Both tracks entered the Billboard Hot 100, with 'OMG' charting for six consecutive weeks.

NewJeans have taken the K-pop industry by storm since their debut in July of 2022 with the song ‘Attention’ and their aforementioned EP in August that same year. They’ve since charted on major charts across the globe, including the UK, Canada and Australia.

NewJeans released its latest single, 'Zero' – a collaboration with Coca-Cola – on 3 April 2023. They have been called a "mega blue chip" in the advertising industry (a stock reference with a reputation for quality and reliability when it comes to profitability) and have served as global ambassadors for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, as well as other brands like Gucci, Armani Beauty, Louis Vuitton and Dior.