There was a time when sheer number of viewers were the key criteria of commercial YouTube success.
For example, back in 2012, South Korean singer Psy, famously hit 1 billion views on YouTube. This was a record, surpassing all others on the platform throughout its lifetime.
But later on as years past, sheer numbers of viewers aren't anymore the most valued thing.
This can be seen when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made the headlines when their joint Instagram account famously gained 1 million followers in less than 6 hours.
This time, it's BLACKPINK from South Korea.
The K-pop “Kill This Love” which was released on April 4th on YouTube, reached 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours.
And in just two days and 14 hours, the music video is considered the fastest music video ever to hit 100 million views, making it the the most viewed music video debut in YouTube history.
The four female members of this K-pop group are catapulting themselves into the history books over the span of a just single week. The group also claimed the number one spot on the U.S. iTunes chart, which was previously held by for fifteen years by Destiny’s Child.
In comparison, Psy viral hit “Gentleman” had held the record since April 2013, after reaching 100 million views in two days and 19 hours.
“Kill This Love” music video narrowly beat Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” which received 55.4 million views in its first day.
And in addition to the above, “Kill This Love” is also regarded as the biggest video to date using YouTube Premiere - which allows channels schedule a prerecorded video release at a specific time - with peak concurrent views reaching over 979,000, according to YouTube.
Grande’s “thank u, next” had also held that record, with 829,000 viewers watching simultaneously at its peak in December 2018.
In recognition to BLACKPINK's massive popularity, YouTube is presenting BLACKPINK's Coachella 2019 performance on the biggest billboard in New York City’s Times Square on April 12th, making it the first-ever broadcast of a festival live stream in the neighborhood.
This makes the female band among the artists featured in YouTube’s live-stream of Coachella. But for BLACKPINK, this is the first time that YouTube's coverage is spanning both weekends of the music festival.
BLACKPINK's members consist of Jisoo (지수), Jennie (제니), Rosé (로제) and Lisa (리사).
Managed by South Korea’s YG Entertainment, the entertainment company is also the one behind K-pop boyband Big Bang, among others.
Another of BLACKPINK's phenomenal music video, was "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" which is also in the top 10 YouTube videos in the first 24 hours with 36.2 million views. And in 2020, the band broke three Guinness World Records for the single "How You Like That".
Related: Taylor Swift's 'ME!' Music Video Breaks Numerous Online Viewership Records