Better than gold for BTS as RIAA platinum certifications hit 13

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded new certifications to nine songs by BTS on Monday.
Four tracks — “Run” from the group’s fourth EP “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2” (2015), “Blood Sweat & Tears” from its second full-length album “Wings” (2016), “DNA” from “Love Yourself: Her” (2017) and “Fake Love” from “Love Yourself: Tear” (2018) — each received platinum certification, which is awarded to songs that have sold over 1 million units.
With these additions, BTS now holds a total of 13 platinum certifications, extending its record as the K-pop act with the most RIAA platinum certifications.
Among the members’ solo releases, Jimin’s title track “Like Crazy” from his solo debut album “Face” (2023) and Jungkook’s solo single “Seven (feat. Latto)” (2023) have each been certified platinum as well.
BTS’s global hit “Dynamite” (2020) was certified five-times platinum last year for selling over 5 million units — a feat previously achieved by only one other Korean artist, Psy.

In addition to the four new platinum certifications, BTS also earned five gold certifications, given to songs that sell over 500,000 units.
These include “Save ME” from the special album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever” (2016), “Spring Day” from “You Never Walk Alone” (2017), “ON” and “Black Swan” from its fourth studio album “Map of the Soul: 7” (2020) and “Permission to Dance” (2021).
The group now has a total of 20 gold certifications.
The RIAA awards certifications based on digital single and album sales, with thresholds for gold at 500,000 units, platinum at 1 million, multi-platinum at 2 million and diamond at 10 million. Sales units are calculated using weighted metrics from physical and digital album sales, digital downloads and audio and video streaming.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]