BTS’ “SWIM” Becomes Group’s Fastest Song to Hit 1 Billion Spotify Streams

BTS’ “SWIM” has passed 1 billion streams on Spotify, becoming the first song released anywhere in the world in 2026 to reach the mark. The milestone came Saturday, Oct. 24, according to the group’s agency, Big Hit Music, which also says it makes “SWIM” the fastest BTS track ever to get there.

The lead single from “Arirang” was released March 20, so the climb took roughly seven months. By comparison, “Dynamite,” released in August 2020, did not reach a billion streams until July 2021, a gap of about eleven months.

“SWIM” got off to a quick start. On release day it topped Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart with about 14 million plays, the biggest single-day total for any 2026 release. Korean outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun, citing Spotify’s own figure, reported the exact count as 14,644,352. The first 500 million streams arrived on May 26, a little over two months after release, and Big Hit announced it the following day. The second 500 million took about five months, and Korean press noted on Oct. 14 that the song was already close to the line.

The song has also been a fixture on the charts. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 4 and stayed on the chart for 20 consecutive weeks. On the U.K. Official Singles Chart it peaked at No. 2, which the Korea Herald describes as the group’s best showing there.

There is one piece of context worth keeping in mind when reading the word “fastest.” Kyunghyang reported in March that the song’s first-day streams were about 1.3 times those of “Butter” and 1.9 times those of “Dynamite,” but the paper also noted that Spotify’s user base is much larger now than it was when those songs were released in 2020 and 2021. Big Hit’s claim is specifically that “SWIM” is the group’s own fastest to a billion, and on that point the numbers are clear. Comparisons across different years simply have to account for a bigger platform.

“SWIM” is now the group’s seventh song with at least 1 billion Spotify streams. The Korea Herald lists “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey)” among the earlier entries. Allkpop adds “FAKE LOVE,” “Life Goes On” and the Coldplay collaboration “My Universe” to complete the list.

The single is only part of the picture for “Arirang,” the group’s first album in three years and nine months. As of Oct. 14, the album had passed 5 billion cumulative Spotify streams, the highest total for any album released worldwide this year. Every one of its 14 tracks has topped 200 million streams, including the interlude “No. 29,” which is built around the sound of the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. The figures show substantial accumulated listening across the whole tracklist, interlude included, rather than only the lead single.

Two days later, Korean press reported that BTS had become the first group to pass 10 billion Spotify streams in a single calendar year. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny had already reached that figure as solo artists, according to the same reports.

The awards have kept pace with the streaming numbers. “SWIM” won Song of the Summer at the American Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 25, and the Korea Herald reports it also took Song of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. RM took the lead on the lyrics, which the Herald describes as a metaphor for moving through life’s waves rather than fighting them, delivered with a determination framed as love for life.

With the billion-stream mark reached and the album’s totals still climbing, BTS’ streaming figures for 2026 are likely to keep growing as listeners continue to stream “Arirang” through the end of the year.…Read more by Janelle Okafor