SEVENTEEN Claims Top Spot, Stray Kids Achieve 8 Consecutive Billboard No. 1s as K-POP Strengthens Global Dominance

SEVENTEEN took the highest position on the 2025 Billboard K-POP Artist 100 chart. The group of 13 members consistently delivered outstanding results in the U.S., global, and Korean markets, solidifying their status as one of the most powerful groups in the K-POP industry at the peak of a 10-year career. SEVENTEEN’s activities in 2025 were exceptionally active, with both tours and album releases. Their mini album “Spill the Feels,” released in November, debuted at fifth place on the Billboard 200, while their full album “HAPPY BURSTDAY,” released in June, entered at second place. Additionally, albums released by their three sub-units—BSS, HOSHI X WOOZI, and CxM (S.COUPS X MINGYU)—contributed to building their global influence. Stray Kids set a historic record on the Billboard 200. Their mixtape “Hop” from 2024 reached number one, and their full album “Karma” from 2025 claimed second place, keeping them at the top of the rankings. They became the first K-POP group to achieve eight consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard 200 chart since its weekly regular publication began in 1956. In 2025 alone, both their full album “Karma” and their mixtape “Do It” debuted at number one, with “Do It” remaining within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks. On the Billboard annual charts, they ranked first and second on the World Albums chart, second among album sales artists, and seventh among artist duos/groups. Rosé of BLACKPINK rewrote K-POP history as a solo artist. Her collaboration with Bruno Mars, “APT.,” entered at eighth place on the Hot 100 in October 2024 and rose to third place in February 2025. This represents the highest chart position ever achieved by a K-POP female solo artist. It also earned her three Grammy Award nominations, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The track ranked third among the most streamed songs of 2025 on Spotify and sixth on TikTok’s global top 20 songs list. ATEEZ also reached new milestones. Their album “Golden Hour: Part 2,” released in November, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, marking the group’s second No. 1 album. In 2025, they brought “Golden Hour: Part 3” and the single “Lemon Drop” onto both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100. TWICE achieved a notable feat with their fourth studio album “THIS IS FOR,” released in July, which stayed on the Billboard 200 for 14 consecutive weeks. “Strategy” and “JEONGYEON, JIHYO, CHAEYOUNG” from the KPOP Demon Hunters OST also reached 51st and 50th place respectively on the Hot 100. Meanwhile, the gap between domestic and international charts is becoming increasingly apparent. A comparison of Billboard’s new charts, “Billboard Korea Hot 100” and “Billboard Korea Global K-Song,” showed that only six out of the top 25 songs appeared in both lists. Domestic charts favor a limited number of artists, while solo artists who are not from K-POP groups (such as Hanro-ro and Im Yeong-woong) have seen rapid growth. In contrast, global charts are dominated by solo artists who were part of K-POP groups, indicating a growing divergence in the supply and demand structure within the K-POP industry between domestic and international markets. Efforts are also underway to create new international charts to expand K-POP’s global influence. Kakao Entertainment plans to launch the PanAsia K-POP Artist Chart in the first half of next year in collaboration with China’s Tencent Music and Japan’s Line Music. By integrating streaming data from Melon, QQ Music, KuGou Music, Kuwo Music, WeSing, and Line Music, they aim to objectively measure K-POP popularity across South Korea, China, and Japan.