Without the Covid lockdowns, do you think BTS would have taken the top position of pop worldwide?

BTS' world conquest took place when they were stuck in Korea, ironically.

To the best of my memory, the last Kpop figure who had left Korea before the lockdowns was IU, who went to a fashion show in Italy just before virtually all foreign trips ended.

She was going to strike BTS from the back when they would have been performing outside of Korea, but because BTS did not leave Korea, she didn't have her chance to hijack Kpop for the third time and now settled to become another KPop figure.

That aside, do you think BTS would have taken the #1 selling album position of the world and rule supreme over the globe if the Covid thing did not hit?

When I saw the IFPI record, it only credited BTS with 4.8 million albums.

The Covid thing led all singers to have no concerts, and which led to fewer albums being released.

Either Adele or Ed Sheeran could have ended the BTS run, but they did not release albums because of the Covid. I think they will do so this year since a lot of venues are now opening.

Because of the Covid, the coalition against BTS did not take place and instead Big Hit/Hybe is making its own coalition, changing the strategic picture.

I do think that the Covid crisis did elevate BTS to the top position because of their online concerts, which led fans from countries too small to have a BTS concert to follow them even further, and their Dynamite could have a chance to be released because they were stuck. (Otherwise Lee Jieun's Eight would have been the Song of Year in Korea, Suga's contribution ignored.)

After Dynamite, there was no question that BTS was now the ruler of the world.

Sometimes one needs luck to become the top of the world person. BTS might have gotten the best of luck because of the Covid crisis.