
When we checked in with Tumblr at the mid-year point last month, acts like BTS, EXO and GOT7 were ruling the platform that boasts more than 90 million engagements with K-pop content annually with the United States, United Kingdom and South Korea as its three most active countries.
Tumblr shares exclusively with Billboard that BTS is once again their most active artist for the month of July in 2017. The BBMA winners started their month strong with the release of their cover of classic K-pop song “Come Back Home” on Aug. 5 and kept fans excited with hints of an impending new music release.
EXO is right behind the BTS boys with a majority of the band’s activity swirling around their recently released, Billboard 200–charting album The War. Some of the most active K-pop posts from the month included recaps of the band’s appearances on Korean variety shows like Knowing Brothers (namely, a segment about member Baekhyun spoke about showering with his bandmates got loads of pick up as did the accompanying memes from the reveal) and on livestream broadcasting apps.
Boy bands continued to rock the rankings with fellow sensations Seventeen, Monsta X and GOT7 making up the top 5 of July’s activity ranking.
Meanwhile, Girls’ Generation proved to be Tumblr’s most popular female act of the month as the K-pop icon’s signaled the end to their two-year break from scene with an early August album that coincides with their 10-year anniversary. There was a bit of label crossover in another top-trending post of the month featuring GG member Yoona, EXO’s Chanyeol, both from SM Entertainment, and one user’s hilarious take on compliments between the sexes. Fellow girl groups Red Velvet and Blackpink also chart in the top 10 this month, at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively.
New boy band Wanna One races into the ranking as the Produce 101-created act began gearing up for their highly anticipated debut, asking fans to vote on their first single and teasing them with photo and video clips. With the official release of “Energetic” at the top of this month, it will be interesting to see how Wanna One performs with users moving forward.
With data provided by Tumblr, check out July 2017’s K-pop artist chart below with a playlist that you can click through to get to know each act better, exclusively on Billboard:
The Top 10 Most Popular K-Pop Acts on Tumblr — July 2017:
1. BTS
2. EXO
3. Seventeen
4. Monsta X
5. GOT7
6. Girls’ Generation
7. Red Velvet
8. Blackpink
9. Wanna One
10. SHINee