Entertainment News

Virtual group Plave hits No. 31 on Billboard 200 as BTS logs a 31st week

Plave, a South Korean group whose five members perform as animated avatars, debuted at No. 31 on the Billboard 200 with its fifth EP, “Hyperdrive”, Yonhap reports. It is the group's best result on the main US albums chart, far above its previous high of No. 145 with “Caligo Pt. 2”.

BTS's fifth studio album, “Arirang”, slipped five places to No. 46, extending its run to 31 consecutive weeks. The Korea Herald notes that it spent three weeks at No. 1 after its debut, and that the group's lead track “Swim” has stayed in the top 10 of the Global excl. US chart for 30 weeks. The band ends its South American tour leg in São Paulo this weekend.

Yonhap lists other Korean-linked entries: the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack at No. 35, Katseye's “Wild” at No. 39 and Stray Kids at No. 93. On the Hot 100, “Dracula” by Jennie of BLACKPINK and Australian act Tame Impala was at No. 8, its 22nd week in the top 10.

How each outlet framed it

• Yonhap — a chart round-up led by Plave's record.
• The Korea Herald — a short BTS item on the chart, plus an earlier feature on how Plave grew from about 28,000 first-week sales in 2023 to more than 1 million.

Where the numbers differ: both say “Hyperdrive” sold about 1.32 million copies in its first week. Yonhap gives the release date as October 19; The Korea Herald says the EP came out on October 13, with the digital album on October 12. The Herald says “Caligo Pt. 2” set Plave's previous sales record in April; Yonhap says its chart high came in May.