Why does this matter? Because iTunes and Amazon donвЂ™t allow the same credit card to buy more than one copy of a song, and BTSвЂ™s website does. Most of BTSвЂ™s sales donвЂ™t come from the normal avenues - iTunes, Amazon, etc.- they come from the bandвЂ™s official website. If that were the end of the story, though, nobody would be crying about it many others have done it before, after all. This practice is termed predatory pricing, and is a well-established opening week maneuver to rack up sales and get a higher chart debut. On top of this, both versions of the song were discounted to $0.69 (they would later lower prices to $0.39), while almost every other song currently on the iTunes top 100 costs $1.29. For starters, they released an instrumental version of the song during the first week, whose sales would also add up to the singleвЂ™s final tally for its Billboard placement.

Those 242,000 sales seem too good to be true, and they are. BTSвЂ™s вЂњButterвЂќ cheated its way to #1 just вЂњ let me show you вЂcause talk is cheap. Trying to discredit BTSвЂ™s success would be ridiculous. There is no denying that вЂњButterвЂќ is a monster hit. It would go on to remain on top of the chart for nine non-consecutive weeks, setting the record for longest-lasting #1 hit of 2021 in the United States. With record-high streaming numbers and high airplay numbers to back up their enormous sales, the song easily notched the the #1 on the Hot 100 the week of June 5. During its first week, it racked up a massive total of 242,000 digital sales, which is almost 40 times higher than the average amount of digital sales for the Hot 100 top 10 this week. With unarguably the most devoted fan base in the world, called the ARMY, the singleвЂ™s music video achieved a whopping 10 million YouTube views in under 15 minutes, and 11 million first-day streams on Spotify Global, breaking record after record on opening day. On May 21, 2021, BTS released their highly anticipated single вЂњButter,вЂќ and they broke the internet. Songs that were hits remained hits, only now with a вЂњ#1вЂќ attached to them, and songs that were not on the charts were still not their lack of staying power reveals their true colors as вЂњinorganicвЂќ #1вЂ™s. We have seen Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Jason Derulo and many others employ questionable tactics to achieve the coveted prize, but up to now, these fraudulent fan practices have fallen short of making a lasting impact on a songвЂ™s chart performance. Everybody wants it, and fans are willing to do anything to get their fave song up there. In todayвЂ™s music industry, all that matters is the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

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