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Less than nine months after Nikki Semin Han organized what the former SM Entertainment CEO called “the Avengers of the K-pop community joining forces to redefine the industry” in TITAN CONTENT, the newly-launched venture is officially beginning to roll out its first-ever artist.
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Billboard can exclusively reveal the first details on TITAN CONTENT’s forthcoming girl group AtHeart, which is set to officially debut in the first half of 2025.
Beginning with the reveal of AtHeart’s first two members Sorin and Michi, the upcoming act will share all its members in the coming months as the future stars develop individual online presences and connect with fans while preparing for their K-pop debut via individual Instagram and TikTok accounts. TITAN CEO Katie Kang says, “The members will be sharing their daily lives and unique personalities through their social accounts, showcasing their journey to becoming AtHeart together. TITAN will reveal all members of AtHeart sequentially with special content this year.”
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Both 17 years old, Sorin and Michi hail from South Korea and Hawaii, respectively, and begin the structure of what TITAN describes as a girl group that “will appeal to audiences around the world.”
Simultaneously revealing a new K-pop group’s members and launching their individual social media accounts is unconventional in the Korean-entertainment industry. Most new-artist startups are kept secret — even if pre-debut social media accounts are launched for a group, individual member accounts tend to launch years after establishing themselves on the scene. (For example, BLACKPINK’s four members launched their individual accounts less than two years after debuting, but it took more than eight years for the BTS guys.)
However, as CEO Kang adds, the strategy is a part of the group’s overall vision toward more connected K-pop idols.
“The name ‘AtHeart’ speaks to this group’s genuine nature and the connection and love they will build with their fans by empowering them to be their authentic selves,” Kang tells Billboard. “TITAN has been scouting and holding global auditions since the beginning of 2024 and we were captivated by the incredible talent we discovered. These members are so uniquely charming and they embody the next generation of K-pop. I know fans around the world will resonate with their genuine personalities and I am so excited for all the global fans to listen to their songs and watch their performance.”
“As the first K-pop company established in the U.S., TITAN will take an innovative and disruptive approach to creating, marketing, and promoting the content and artists we produce,” adds Han, Chairman at TITAN. “Working with powerhouse executives, creators, and producers from both East and West, we will break the mold by targeting global markets simultaneously from the start.”
Chief Business Officer Dom Rodriguez describes the Los Angeles–based company as “an artist-first and fan-first company,” touting its prodigious goals can be met with TITAN’s deeper involvement in the musical and personal processes of developing K-pop stars.
“We are relentless in our pursuit of innovation and creativity,” the CBO adds. “We prioritize the needs of our artists, the exceptional songwriters and producers who are integral to our success, and the dedicated fans who drive the K-pop phenomenon. Our hands-on A&R process is meticulously designed to elevate the next generation of K-pop artists, maintaining the highest standards of musical greatness. Collaborating with accomplished writers and top music producers worldwide, we’re committed to upholding excellence and shaping the future of music.”
“AtHeart marks the beginning of an exciting journey built upon the connection between K-pop idols, their dedicated fans, and music, with a commitment to upholding everything that makes K-pop unique and special,” says TITAN Chief Visual Officer Guiom Lee. “Backed by a team of industry experts who share a profound love and understanding of the genre, we will display innovation across all facets of AtHeart, pushing the limits in today’s ever-changing digital landscape. From top-tier visuals and fashion to captivating musical performances, we are excited to unveil AtHeart to a global audience.”
As previously reported, the team making up TITAN has experiences with K-pop artists across generations, including chart-topping names like BoA, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, EXO, TWICE, Monsta X, ITZY, The Boyz, and more. Beyond artist development and management, TITAN plans to produce music festivals and revealed plans to combine “traditional K-pop training and artist development with Web3 and metaverse innovation.” The company also announced today that it will soon open an upcoming platform where “AtHeart will communicate with global fans with new and diverse content through a K-pop fandom platform that combines various innovative technologies such as Web3 and AI.”
Get to know Sorin and Michi in these first-look images below and by following the future AtHeart members on social media. Look out for more from the group via its official website
Sorin
Courtesy of Titan Content
Michi
Courtesy of Titan Content
Griff released her debut album as a trilogy, and the final installment, ‘Vertigo,’ is out. She stops by Billboard and shares how she got inspired to release her debut album in three parts, her experience on opening for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, and how she will be opening for Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n Sweet […]
In the first half of 2024 in the United States, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was the most popular album, while Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” was the most-streamed song (by on-demand audio streams), respectively, according to data tracking firm Luminate.
Read more about midyear metrics in the 2024 Luminate Midyear Music Report.
‘Poets’ Perched on Top: For the tracking period of Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024, Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was the most popular album in the U.S. The pop superstar’s studio set was released on April 19 via Republic Records and earned 4.66 million equivalent album units in the first half of 2024. (See full top 10 chart, below.) Poets spent its first 12 weeks atop the weekly Billboard 200 chart – the first album by a woman to spend its first 12 weeks at No. 1.
Poets is also the top-selling album, by traditional album sales, at the midyear point, with 2.47 million sold. The set is the top-selling album on CD (1.07 million), vinyl (988,000) and digital download (395,000) of 2024’s first six months.
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The most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of user-generated content [UGC] streams) was Boone’s breakout hit “Beautiful Things,” with 448.7 million clicks in the first six months of the year. “Beautiful Things,” released via Night Street/Warner Records, marked Boone’s first top 40-charting hit on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart, and peaked at No. 2 on the tally in March.
Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sales, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official and audio streams generated by songs from an album.
Equivalent album units cited for album titles in this story, and in the “Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S.” chart do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams. UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers and its midyear song streaming rankings. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and for the U.S. only. Programmed streams are not included in any of the data in this story.
Luminate (formerly MRC Data, Nielsen Music and SoundScan) began tracking music consumption in 1991. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 4.66 million equivalent album units earned at midyear, album sales comprise 2.47 million, SEA units comprise 2.16 million (equaling 2.82 billion on-demand official audio and video streams of the 31 songs on the deluxe edition of the album) and TEA units comprise 23,000.
The top five most popular albums at the midyear point in the U.S. are The Tortured Poets Department, Morgan Wallen’s March 2023 release One Thing at a Time (1.78 million), Noah Kahan’s October 2022 release Stick Season (1.22 million), Beyoncé’s March release Cowboy Carter (1.10 million) and SZA’s December 2022 release SOS (1.06 million). In 2023, One Thing at a Time and SOS were the Nos. 1 and 3 most popular albums of the year in Luminate’s year-end report.
2024’s Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S. (by Equivalent Album Units)1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (4.660 million)2. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (1.776 million)3. Noah Kahan, Stick Season (1.224 million)4. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (1.105 million)5. SZA, SOS (1.064 million)6. Future & Metro Boomin, We Don’t Trust You (1.046 million)7. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (1.010 million)8. Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan (984,000)9. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (953,000)10. Taylor Swift, Lover (948,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024. UGC (user-generated content) streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminate’s on-demand streaming charts (below). Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but only during the tracking period.
2024’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Albums in U.S. (Physical & Digital Album Sales Combined)1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (2.474 million)2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (306,000)3. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (257,000)4. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (250,000)5. Taylor Swift, Lover (208,000)6. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Minisode 3: TOMORROW (193,000)7. ATEEZ, Golden Hour: Part.1 (191,000)8. Taylor Swift, Folklore (174,000)9. TWICE, With YOU-th (174,000)10. Taylor Swift, Midnights (171,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024.
2024’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (988,000)2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (160,000)3. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (117,000)4. Taylor Swift, Folklore (108,000)5. Taylor Swift, Lover (106,000)6. Taylor Swift, Midnights (100,000)7. Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (94,000)8. Taylor Swift, Evermore (88,000)9. Noah Kahan, Stick Season (87,000)10. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (74,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024.
Total Album Consumption Increases 7.4% at Midyear: Year-to-date, total equivalent album units grew by 7.4% (to 527.3 million) as compared to the same time frame in 2023 (491.1 million in the span of Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023). However, Luminate notes in its midyear report that due to changes in methodology and provider reporting, a trend break occurred in the first half of 2024, and they are unable to provide an accurate representation of year-over-year changes with regards to independent retail physical sales. In turn, for the above total equivalent album unit comparison, sales from independent retail stores are excluded from both the midyear 2024 and 2023 numbers above as there is no comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend. Indie store album sales are included in the top 10 album rankings in this story. (In January 2024, Luminate retired a weighted data modeling method that previously measured physical sales in the indie retail sector. In April, Luminate launched a partnership with data provider StreetPulse to collect music sales from independent retailers.)
On-Demand Audio Streaming Up 8%, ‘Beautiful Things’ Most-Streamed Song: Boone’s “Beautiful Things” was the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams in the first half of 2024 in the U.S. (see list, below), with 448.7 million streams (inclusive of UGC). Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves (437.3 million) and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (409.7 million) round out the top three.
Total on-demand audio streams at midyear grew 8% in the U.S. as compare to the same point a year ago (665.8 billion versus 616.5 billion).
UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers (above) and its midyear streaming song charts (below). UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.
In general, all songs in the below charts combine the assorted remixes of a song into one overall total.
2024’s Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio)1. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (448.7 million)2. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything” (437.3 million)3. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (409.7 million)4. Tommy Richman, “Million Dollar Baby” (374.9 million)5. Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar, “Like That” (374.9 million)6. Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (362.1 million)7. Noah Kahan, “Stick Season” (342.9 million)8. Jack Harlow, “Lovin On Me” (340.8 million)9. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (333.1 million)10. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (333.1 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024. Includes UGC streams.
Digital Song Sales Fall 11%: Digital song sales declined 10.9% in the first six months of 2024, falling to 61.96 million, as compared to 69.57 million sold in the first half of 2023. The top-selling digital song at the midyear point is Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” with 219,000 sold.2023’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Digital Songs in U.S.1. Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (219,000)2. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (200,000)3. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (195,000)4. Beyoncé, “Texas Hold ‘Em” (178,000)5. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help” (156,000)6. Megan Thee Stallion, “Hiss” (107,000)7. Jack Harlow, “Lovin On Me” (95,000)8. Tom MacDonald & Ben Shapiro, “Facts” (93,000)9. Eminem, “Houdini” (88,000)10. Hozier, “Too Sweet” (85,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024.
Harlow Hot at Radio: The most-heard song on U.S. radio in the first half of 2024 was Harlow’s “Lovin On Me,” with a cumulative 1.743 million audience impressions across all formats monitored by Luminate. “Flowers,” with a cumulative 2.409 billion audience impressions across all formats monitored by Luminate. The track led Billboard’s weekly Radio Songs airplay chart for 12 consecutive weeks (from Jan. 27, 2024 through April 13, 2024).
2024’s Midyear Top 10 Radio Songs in U.S. (Based on Audience Impressions)1. Jack Harlow, “Lovin On Me” (1.743 billion)2. Teddy Swims, “Lose Control” (1.692 billion)3. Doja Cat, “Agora Hills” (1.544 billion)4. Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (1.402 billion)5. Tate McRae, “Greedy” (1.388 billion)6. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (1.248 billion)7. Tyla, “Water” (1.210 billion)8. Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things” (1.142 billion)9. Sabrina Carpenter, “Feather” (1.123 billion)10. SZA, “Snooze” (1.111 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2023, through June 27, 2024.
Jin shares his experience as South Korea’s representative of the 2024 Olympics, SEVENTEEN’s WOOZI has something to say about the accusations of AI use, and Jimin & Jung Kook tease their new show. Tetris Kelly: Ji-Kook doesn’t know if we’re ready for what we are about to see, SEVENTEEN’s WOOZI snaps back to people saying […]
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Billboard is excited to partner with Pinterest to reveal an exclusive board featuring editorial content curated by Billboard’s editors. The boards, brought to you by Pinterest, aims to showcase the multifaceted nature of Latin music, highlighting both its traditional roots and the journey that has resulted in Latin music genres being among the most popular in the world.
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Latin music is known for its ability to evoke emotion and capture the essence of its culture. From the passionate rhythms of salsa to the heartfelt ballads of bachata and the infectious beats of reggaetón, each genre tells a story of its own.
The boards offer a comprehensive look at Billboard’s prominent role in supporting Latin music’s global explosion. Each sub-genre will have its own unique board, composed of Pins featuring content from Billboard’s archive.
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Fans can look forward to original photography, behind-the-scenes video, and other content from events like Billboard Latin Music Week and Billboard Latin Women in Music.
These exclusive editorial boards are more than just a showcase of music; they represent a celebration of identity, creativity, and the power of cultural expression. Pinterest’s visual discovery platform is perfect for this project, allowing users to explore, save, and share their favorite moments from Latin music culture effortlessly.
“These boards provide a beautiful and vibrant snapshot of Latin music through history and today. We are so proud to highlight the rich versatility of Latin music and all its genres through Pinterest’s unique visual platform, which provides a completely different discovery experience. We’re eager to expand Latin music’s reach even more,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s Chief Content Officer for Latin content and Español.
Billboard and Pinterest’s partnership not only brings visibility to Latin music but also fosters community engagement. Users on Pinterest can immerse themselves in the distinct styles and personalities of each subgenre, as well as discover emerging talents who are redefining the boundaries of Latin music.
“We are thrilled to partner with a world-renowned publication like Billboard to bring Pinterest users an exclusive look into the distinct styles and personalities of Latin music genres, as well as offering them the opportunity to discover emerging talents,” said Nadine Zylstra, Pinterest’s Global Head of Programming and Originals.
“Pinterest is a platform for inspiring content, and it’s so special that Billboard has opened their archives so that half a billion users on Pinterest can discover their iconic collection of covers, red carpet looks, photoshoots and events photography.”
As users explore these boards, they are invited to dive into the narratives behind the music, gaining a deeper appreciation for the Latin music diaspora and its enduring impact on the global stage. Get ready to experience Latin music like never before.