Song debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100
BTS and YouTube have announced the Permission to Dance Challenge that starts Friday, July 23rd and runs through Saturday, August 14th, exclusively on YouTube Shorts.
BTS is inviting the world to dance along with them to their new track, “Permission to Dance,” for the first-ever worldwide dance challenge on YouTube Shorts, following its global expansion. Starting this Friday, anyone from across the globe can create a 15-second YouTube Short right from the YouTube mobile app, replicating the core dance moves from the “Permission to Dance” music video. As the “Permission to Dance” lyrics encourage listeners to move to the rhythm of their heartbeat, BTS is bringing the world together again with this special dance and inviting people to add their own style to their YouTube Shorts creations.
As part of the challenge, BTS will be spotlighting some of their favorite Shorts in a compilation video. Fans who use #PermissiontoDance and #Shorts for their creations could be featured.
“BTS are global icons,” says Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music. “Breaking record after record on YouTube, BTS’ immense contribution to the world of music has made them an undeniable force. We are humbled to be partnering with them on the ‘Permission to Dance’ challenge on YouTube Shorts, helping to spread happiness and build lasting connections amongst their fans on YouTube across the globe. We are stoked to see the ARMY dance!”
“Permission to Dance” is BTS’ latest single to top the Billboard Hot 100, replacing their own song “Butter” at the summit. The song marks BTS’ fifth No. 1 in a span of 10 months and two weeks, making them the fastest to accumulate five leaders since Michael Jackson in 1987-88. This week, BTS also topped YouTube’s Global Top Artists Chart and YouTube’s Global Top Songs Chart with the track.
The group premiered the track last week on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. The music premiered just over a week ago, earning over 170 million views to date on YouTube. The video’s debut landed the record-breaking group their fifth slot on YouTube’s top 10, all-time biggest 24-hour music debut list, with the K-pop superstars now owning 50% of the spots, including No. 1 for “Butter” and No. 2 for “Dynamite.” “Butter” also owns the record for biggest music video premiere of all time, with 3.9 million peak concurrents and held the top slot on YouTube’s Global Top Songs chart for seven straight weeks.
Globally, BTS is amongst the top five most-viewed artists on YouTube so far this year. In the past 12 months, it has earned over 10 billion views on the platform. With 54 million subscribers on its Official Artist Channel, they are the third most-subscribed artist on YouTube. BTS has joined YouTube’s coveted billion views club on three different occasions with its hits “DNA,” “Boy With Luv,” and most recently “Dynamite.”
