May 2026 K-Pop Brand Reputation Rankings: BTS #1, IVE Holds Strong at #2, BLACKPINK Rises to #3

K-POP NEWS  ·  May 30, 2026

The May 2026 Idol Group Brand Reputation Rankings are out — and if you expected any surprises at the top, well, there weren't any. BTS at number one. Again. But dig past the headline and the mid-tier movements get genuinely interesting. BLACKPINK climbed. A rookie group you might not have heard of cracked the top five with a 200% jump. And IVE continues to prove they're not just a flash-in-the-pan fourth-gen act — they're a fixture.

#1 — BTS (Brand Index: 10,608,366)

📷 Photo: @BTS_bighit / BIGHIT MUSIC · 2026

No surprises here. BTS held the top spot for May with a brand reputation index of 10,608,366 and a positivity score of 95.53%. High-ranking keywords included "ARMY," "Mexico concert," and "Arirang" — all pointing to the Arirang World Tour keeping every market's conversation active simultaneously. The gap between BTS and everyone else remains enormous — nearly double IVE's second-place score — even during what counts as a relatively quiet month for the group.

Worth noting: this is actually a 43.87% decrease from April's inflated score of 18,899,941, which was driven by the album launch and tour opening. The fact that they're still comfortably doubling second place says everything about the size of that fanbase.

📷 Photo: @BTS_bighit / BIGHIT MUSIC · 2026

#2 — IVE (Brand Index: 5,538,659)

📷 Photo: @IVEstarship / Starship Entertainment · 2026

IVE maintained second place with 5,538,659 — holding their April position in a month where they didn't have a major release or event. That's the kind of baseline brand power that matters. Wonyoung and Yujin's individual activities across fashion, advertising, and variety shows continue to keep the group's visibility high between comebacks. Honestly, IVE being this stable without a release is impressive — they've built a brand identity that doesn't depend entirely on album cycles.

📷 Photo: @IVEstarship / Starship Entertainment · 2026

#3 — BLACKPINK (Brand Index: 5,121,648)

📷 Photo: @BLACKPINK / YG Entertainment · 2026

BLACKPINK rose to third with a 14.74% increase from April — traceable almost entirely to Jennie's solo activities. Her viral Chanel performance, ongoing festival bookings, and buzz around upcoming music kept the collective brand climbing without a single group activity. Rosé's solo momentum has been consistent too. BLACKPINK's model — members operating as powerful individual brands while keeping the group name warm — is clearly working from a reputation standpoint.

📷 Photo: @BLACKPINK / YG Entertainment · 2026

#4 — SEVENTEEN (Brand Index: 3,450,894)

📷 Photo: @pledis_17 / PLEDIS Entertainment · 2026

SEVENTEEN held fourth place with 3,450,894. Steady, reliable, and showing exactly the kind of consistent brand presence you'd expect from a group with one of the most engaged global fandoms in K-pop. CARATs showed up in the data. They always do.

📷 Photo: @pledis_17 / PLEDIS Entertainment · 2026

#5 — CORTIS (Brand Index: 2,951,852 — Up 201.71%)

Here's the wildcard. CORTIS shot to fifth with a 201.71% increase from April — the biggest month-over-month jump in the entire top 10. If you're not familiar with them yet, that's probably about to change. That kind of brand surge usually means a combination of a strong comeback, viral moments, and a fanbase that mobilized hard. Keep an eye on this one.

Fan Reactions

ARMY celebrated the top spot hard — "BTS at #1 during a world tour month with 95% positive sentiment. Name a more consistent act. I'll wait." IVE fans were equally vocal about holding second without a comeback: "IVE proving brand is built between releases, not just during them." The CORTIS jump generated the most curiosity outside those fandoms, with K-pop discussion accounts scrambling to explain the 201% surge. BLACKPINK's climb to third also drew attention: "No group comeback, no group release, and BLACKPINK still climbed to #3. The individual brand power in this group is something else."

What This Tells Us About 2026

BTS' dominance tracks with the Arirang World Tour running as a rolling PR machine through September. IVE shows that fourth-gen acts have built brand equity that operates independently of release cycles — a real shift from five years ago. And BLACKPINK proves that a group of four individually powerful artists can sustain collective brand momentum even in quiet periods. The race to the top is getting more sophisticated. Just charting isn't enough anymore.

• #1 BTS — 10,608,366 (▼43.87% from April but still dominant)
• #2 IVE — 5,538,659 (maintained)
• #3 BLACKPINK — 5,121,648 (▲14.74%)
• #4 SEVENTEEN — 3,450,894
• #5 CORTIS — 2,951,852 (▲201.71%)

Data period: April 14 – May 14, 2026 · Source: Korean Business Research Institute