I. Introduction
"Butter" is the second English digital single by BTS. It was released on May 21, 2021.
The single is describe as a dance pop track brimming with the smooth yet charismatic charm of BTS.
A limited-edition cassette and 7" vinyl was released on June 18.
II. Background & Release
On April 5, 2021, days after the release of their Japanese single "Film Out", it was revealed that BTS would release a new song in May. However, Big Hit Music announced that they would reveal our artists' plans after they were finalized. On April 26, the single's title and release date were announced in an hour-long YouTube livestream of an animated stick of butter melting. The video featured a countdown with kitchen sounds in the background, and the text "Butter" and "May 21, 2021" appeared at the end of the stream. The livestream amassed 12.8 million views on the day it was debuted. Concept photos and video teasers for the song, set to be BTS' second English-language single, were shared through the band's official social media in the weeks following. They held a global press conference one hour after the single's release.
BTS appeared as the first guests on Big Hit's new exclusive Melon Station radio series, BigHit Music Record, on May 21 to introduce "Butter" and participate in a Q&A with fans. The single impacted American contemporary hit radio stations on May 25, 2021. On May 27, Big Hit announced the release of a house bass electro-dance remix of the song, "Butter (Hotter Remix)", as a thank-you to fans for their support. The announcement was accompanied by new teaser photos for the remix—seven solo shots and one group—featuring a different concept to the original teasers. The remix and its music video premiered globally on all streaming platforms at midnight on May 28. New remixes succeeded the release of the "Hotter" version in the weeks following.
The CD single of "Butter" includes "Permission to Dance", a song written by Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid, Steve Mac, and Jenna Andrews and produced by Mac, Stephen Kirk, and Andrews. Released on July 9, it also includes instrumental versions of both songs.
On August 24, TMZ reported that another remix featuring American rapper Megan Thee Stallion had originally been set for release on August 27 until the rapper's label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, and its CEO Carl Crawford attempted to block it, which made her seek help from court. The remix was ultimately released as planned on August 27.
III. Tracklist
7-inch and cassette
Butter" – 2:45
Digital
"Butter" – 2:45
"Butter" (instrumental) – 2:42
Digital (Hotter remix)
"Butter" – 2:44
"Butter" (Hotter remix) – 2:46
"Butter" (instrumental) – 2:42
Digital EP (Hotter, Sweeter, Cooler)
"Butter" – 2:44
"Butter" (Hotter remix) – 2:46
"Butter" (Sweeter remix) – 2:41
"Butter" (Cooler remix) – 2:41
"Butter" (instrumental) – 2:42
CD single and digital EP
"Butter" – 2:44
"Permission to Dance" – 3:07
"Butter" (instrumental) – 2:42
"Permission to Dance" (instrumental) – 3:07
Digital (Megan Thee Stallion remix)
"Butter (Megan Thee Stallion remix)" (featuring Megan Thee Stallion) – 2:44
IV. Spotify Playlist
V. Videos
Teaser
Official MV
Live Performance
Dance Practice
VI. Reception
With 11.042 million first-day streams on the Spotify global chart, "Butter" set a new record for the biggest song debut in the platform's history—surpassing Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber's "I Don't Care", which had held the record since May 2019 with 10.977 million opening-day streams—and earned a Guinness World Record for the achievement. This also marked a new personal best for BTS, surpassing their previous high of 7.778 million streams for "Dynamite" in its debut in August 2020. With over 20.9 million unfiltered global streams, "Butter" set another record for the largest single-day streams of any song ever on Spotify. It also became the fastest song to reach 100 million streams on the platform, doing so on its eighth day.
"Butter" entered South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart at number four and the component Streaming chart at number 35, but debuted at number one on the component Download chart. The single album version of the song, sold nearly 2,5 million physical copies in South Korea in July, becoming one of the best-selling albums in South Korea.
In Japan, "Butter" debuted at number one on the Oricon Daily Digital Singles chart issue dated May 21, 2021 with 27,772 downloads. This was BTS' highest opening-day digital sales in the country, surpassing "Film Out", which sold 23,344 copies on its first day. With only three days of availability in the tracking period, during which time the single consecutively maintained first place on the daily chart, "Butter" debuted atop the Oricon Weekly Digital Singles chart issue dated May 31, 2021 with 52,821 downloads, giving the band its second digital number-one of the year after "Film Out". The single also topped the Weekly Streaming chart for the same period with 16.607 million streams, marking the biggest weekly streaming debut in Oricon chart history and making BTS the artist with the most number-ones on the chart (three, including "Dynamite" and "Film Out").
"Butter" became the band's third song to exceed 10 million streams in a single week, making BTS the artist with the most songs (three, including "Dynamite" and "Film Out") to achieve this in Oricon chart history. On the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart issue dated May 26, 2021, the single debuted at number two and topped the component Streaming and Download charts. On May 28, Billboard Japan reported that "Butter" accumulated 14.835 million streams just three days into the following tracking period (May 24–30) and surpassed the record set by LiSA's "Homura" in 2020 (7.526 million streams from October 19–21). At the end of its full tracking period (October 19–25), "Homura" accrued a total of 18.901 million streams, the largest streaming week in Billboard Japan chart history; "Butter" achieved over 75% of these streams in less than half the time. On September 1, Oricon announced that "Butter" became the fastest song in the charts history to surpass 200 million streams, doing so in 15 weeks; the previos record was set by LiSA's "Homura" within 19 weeks. The physical version of the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), for shipping more than 250,000 copies, a month after it's release.
According to Mediabase, "Butter" was added to all 180 Top 40 radio stations in the United States and received 2,217 spins its first week. It was the first song by an international artist to become the most-added track at radio in its opening week, and BTS are the first group to achieve this feat. "Dynamite" was previously the band's most-added single at radio with 171 stations putting it into rotation in its debut week. With only three days of availability, the single entered Billboard's Pop Airplay chart at number 26, making it the highest debut of the week and the second-highest of the year, behind only Ed Sheeran's "Afterglow", which entered at number 23 in January. It was the band's seventh entry on the airplay chart and a new career best.
"Butter" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart issue dated June 5, 2021, giving BTS its fourth number-one in under nine months. The band became the fastest act to achieve four number-ones since Justin Timberlake in 2006–2007, the first group since the Jackson 5 in 1970, and the only group to debut three songs in the lead. The song accumulated 32.2 million streams, sold 242,800 downloads and 18.1 million radio airplay audience in its first week. It marked BTS its seventh number-one on the Digital Song Sales chart and the largest sales week since "Dynamite" sold 300,000 copies on the September 5, 2020 issue. Billboard noted that the sales for "Butter" were aided by its original and instrumental versions discounted to 69 cents in its first week. The song also debuted at number four on Streaming Songs chart. "Butter" stayed atop both the Hot 100 and Digital Songs Sales chart for nine non-consecutive weeks. On the chart dated July 24, 2021, it slipped to number 7 on the Hot 100, while "Permission to Dance" spent one week atop the chart. The following week it returned to number one, making BTS the first act to displace itself at number one across two consecutive weeks. As of July 2021, the song has sold more than one million copies in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, "Butter" became the highest-charting new entry on the Official Charts Company's Singles Chart for the May 28–June 3, 2021 period, debuting at number three and giving BTS its second top-five entry. The single was also the best-selling entry on the Downloads Chart by more than 10,000 sales. After a eleven week chart run between June and August, the single re-entered the chart on Sepember 9 at no. 32, following the release of the Megan Thee Stallion remix. The song was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BIP) for moving 200,000 single-equivalent units on August 27, 2021. It also topped the Downloads chart in Ireland and debuted at number seven on the Irish Singles Chart, giving BTS its second top-10 entry in the territory.
In Germany, "Butter" debuted at number seven on the Top 100 Singles chart, becoming the band's highest-charting song and second top-10 in the country ("Dynamite" peaked at number eight in August 2020); in July, the song rose to a new peak of sixth.
VII. World Records
Guinness World Records
- Most viewers for the premiere of a video on YouTube
- Most viewers for the premiere of a music video on YouTube
- Most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours
- Most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a K-pop group
- Most streamed track on Spotify in the first 24 hours
