Netflix Animation “KPop Demon Hunters” Crosses 300 Million Views, Claiming Top Spots on Billboard’s Single and Album Charts

Netflix’s animation “KPop Demon Hunters” has set a new historical record. Released on June 20, this 100-minute fantasy musical surpassed 301,420,000 views as of September 14, becoming the first Netflix film to reach 300 million views. It now surpasses “Squid Game” Season 1 and “Wednesday” in terms of total views viewed on Netflix as of the end of last month, making it the most-watched title in the platform’s history. The film’s original soundtrack (OST) is also dominating the U.S. Billboard charts. “Golden,” a track from the OST performed by the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, held the top spot on Billboard’s main single chart, the Hot 100, for five consecutive weeks. Billboard described this as “the longest-running number one record for an animated artist in the 67-year history of the chart.” “Golden” entered the chart at position 81 at the end of June and spent approximately 12 weeks rising before reaching the top several weeks ago. The entire OST album also reached number one on Billboard’s 200 albums chart for the first time in 12 weeks. In addition to streaming, strong sales driven by physical CD releases and a deluxe reissue version featuring additional tracks contributed to its success. It has been approximately five years since K-pop artists last simultaneously dominated Billboard’s main single and album charts, with BTS achieving this in December 2020 through their album “BE” and title track “Life Goes On.” The OST brought four songs into the Hot 100 singles chart. “Your Idol” and “Soda Pop” by the fictional K-pop boy group SAZABOYZ reached positions 4 and 5 respectively, while “How It's Done” entered at position 8. During this chart period, “Golden” accumulated 33,800,000 streams, 26,300,000 radio points, and 8,000 sales, and it has held the top spot on the streaming songs chart for eight consecutive weeks. “KPop Demon Hunters” also dominates Netflix’s streaming rankings. As of September 18, it has remained number one for 13 consecutive weeks. In the tracking period from August 18 to 24, it ranked in Nielsen’s top 10 streaming movies list for 10 consecutive weeks with 930 million minutes of viewing time. This breaks the 9-week record set by “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” in 2021 and represents a new record for the past five years that Nielsen has been tracking streaming data. The film tells the story of fictional K-pop superheroes with superpowers to protect fans from evil forces, and it was directed by Canadian-Korean filmmaker Maggie Kang. After its release, “Golden” gained further momentum through a collaborative effort between Korean-American singer-songwriter Jae, American singer Audrey Nuña, and Ray Aimee, fueled by the popularity of the animation.