BTS 'Dynamite' breaks YouTube record for most-viewed video in first 24 hours

BTS Army has done it: The K-pop idols' new video for Dynamite has set a new YouTube record for views in the first 24 hours of release.

BTS Army has done it: The K-pop idols' new video for Dynamite has set a new YouTube record for views in the first 24 hours of release.

The upbeat, dance-y and vivid music video from BTS was released on YouTube Friday, Aug 21, at midnight. By 8.35pm, Dynamite had registered more than 86.4 million views. That has pushed it ahead of the prior record holder, Blackpink's How You Like That, which two months ago racked up an official tally of 86.3 million views in the first 24 hours.

What's more, BTS – with its extraordinarily passionate fanbase (aka BTS Army) – still has nearly three and a half hours left to pad its lead with Dynamite, and may even crest the 100-million views mark.

Dynamite, the group's first song entirely in English, hit the No. 1 trending spot on YouTube globally within 12 hours of its debut. The video also notched a record for most-viewed YouTube Premiere with more than three million live concurrent viewers (with official numbers yet to be released by YouTube).

YouTube's 24-hour views metric has become a yardstick in the music business for bragging rights and promotion. In response to some promoters gaming the system, YouTube changed its methodology for YouTube Music Charts in September 2019 to no longer count paid advertising views in 24-hour counts, which it said was to best reflect authentic fan engagement.

Note that BTS has previously held the 24-hour views record several times, most recently with the April 2019 release of Boy With Luv featuring Halsey (74.6 million views in the initial one-day period). The Dynamite vid was directed by Yong Seok Choi of production firm Lumpens, who also helmed Boy With Luv.

BTS's TV performance premiere of Dynamite will take place at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, scheduled to air on Aug 30 at 8pm ET/PT. – Reuters/Variety.com