From Ariana to Adele, Blackpink to BTS, here are 10 tracks that reign on YouTube

Boy With Luv by BTS featuring Halsey. Photo: YouTube

When K-pop group Blackpink released the music video for new song How You Like That recently, it attracted an average of 998 new views a second on its first day.

The quartet set a new YouTube record for the highest number of views within 24 hours: 86.3 million.

YouTube is an important battleground for pop acts, especially now when live performances have been put on hold due to the pandemic.

Here are 10 tracks - including Blackpink's How You Like That - which broke records on YouTube, from fellow K-pop act BTS' collaboration with American singer Halsey, Boy With Luv to Latin pop superstar Luis Fonsi's massive hit Despacito.

HOW YOU LIKE THAT (2020)

Blackpink

South Korean quartet Blackpink's music video for their highly anticipated comeback song, How You Like That, pulled in 86.3 million views in a single day, setting the record for the most-viewed YouTube video in 24 hours.

More than 1.6 million Blackpink fans, known as Blinks, tuned in the moment the video was launched on June 26. There was certainly pent-up demand - the last song the group released, Kill This Love, was a year ago.

How You Like That is the first single from the quartet's upcoming debut Korean-language album and has since clocked more than 220 million views.

BOY WITH LUV (2019)

BTS featuring Halsey

When K-pop juggernaut BTS put out Boy With Luv, the lead single from their sixth EP, Map Of The Soul: Persona, in April last year, the video pulled 74.6 million views in a day.

Featuring guest vocals from American pop star Halsey, it was then the most-viewed online video in 24 hours, a record that stood for more than a year before it was beaten by Blackpink's How You Like That.

It was also the fastest video to garner 100 million views on YouTube, achieved in one day and 13 hours, and has since been streamed more than 835 million times.

THANK U, NEXT (2018)

Ariana Grande

American singer Ariana Grande's video for break-up anthem Thank U, Next broke the record - then held by BTS for their 2018 song Idol - for the most views in 24 hours. Thank U, Next held the record until last year, when it was bested by Blackpink's Kill This Love.

Featuring scenes referencing classic comedies such as Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001), as well as cameos from celebrities such as reality-television star Kris Jenner, Grande's video was viewed 55.4 million times on its first day of release.

ME! (2019)

Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie

The video for Me!, the lead single from American pop star Taylor Swift's seventh album Lover (2019), clocked 65.2 million views on its first day.

Featuring Brendon Urie, singer of pop-rock band Panic! At The Disco, it won accolades such as Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Visual Effects at the MTV Video Music Awards last year.

While it has been viewed more than 325 million times, it is far from being Swift's most popular music video. That distinction goes to Shake It Off from her fifth album, 1989 (2014), which has been viewed 2.9 billion times.

SHAPE OF YOU (2017)

Ed Sheeran

The music video for British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's dancehall-inflected hit Shape Of You boasts the most views for an English pop song: 4.8 billion views.

Sheeran plays the role of a boxer and goes up against a sumo wrestler while wearing an inflatable fat suit.

At the end of last year, music streaming service Spotify named Shape Of You its most-streamed song of the decade. The track, taken from his third album ÷ (2017), also won Sheeran a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance in 2018.

DESPACITO (2017)

Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee

Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi's mega hit Despacito is the most-viewed music video on YouTube, a record it has held since 2017.

The reggaeton and Latin pop song, featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, has been viewed 6.84 billion times - a billion more views than its closest rival, Pinkfong's kid-friendly earworm Baby Shark Dance (2016).

Despacito, which also spawned a remix by Canadian pop prince Justin Bieber, topped the charts in 47 countries and is credited for a 45%rise in Puerto Rico's tourism.

HELLO (2015)

Adele

One of the biggest hits by English singer-songwriter Adele, Hello is the fastest music video to hit one billion views, achieving the feat 87 days after it was released in October 2015. The record still stands.

The lead single from her third album 25, the song won multiple awards, including Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

While it has 2.67 billion views so far, many other videos have surpassed it in term of total views and it now ranks as the 25th most-viewed video on YouTube.

GANGNAM STYLE (2012)

Psy

In 2012, South Korean singer Psy made history when his Gangnam Style music video became the first to hit one billion views on YouTube. Justin Bieber's Baby was the second music video to do so in 2014.

Psy's hilarious video, featuring the singer doing ludicrous dance moves, was also the first video to clock two billion views in 2014.

With 3.6 billion views so far, it also holds the distinction of being the most-watched music video by an Asian pop act.

SUGAR (2015)

Maroon 5

American pop-rock outfit Maroon 5's music video for Sugar has 3.2 billion views, the most for any band or group on YouTube.

Taken from their fifth album V (2014), the video was helmed by film-maker David Dobkin, who directed the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers. Borrowing the idea, the video features the band surprising newlyweds and their guests by performing at weddings in Los Angeles.

ROAR (2013)

Katy Perry

American pop star Katy Perry's music video for her 2013 hit Roar is the most-viewed clip by a female singer on YouTube.

With 3.1 billion views, the song from her fourth album Prism is the 12th most-viewed video of all time.

Perry has three other music videos that have crossed the one-billion mark: Dark Horse (2.8 billion), Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) and Firework (both 1.2 billion). – The Straits Times/Asia News Network