--- title: BTS Tests Out A TikTok Release and Viral Challenge for "ON" description: Ahead of the release of 'Map of the Soul: 7,' BTS teases their new single "ON" on TikTok. canonical: https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-20T23:06:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:01.735Z og:title: BTS Tests Out a TikTok Release and Viral Challenge for 'ON' to Get the Fan ARMY Assembled og:description: Ahead of the release of 'Map of the Soul: 7,' BTS teases their new single "ON" on TikTok. og:url: https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d8fc7bff74a6b9/698a0a8622fb85201de2aa07/bts-on-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: BTS Tests Out a TikTok Release and Viral Challenge for 'ON' to Get the Fan ARMY Assembled twitter:description: Ahead of the release of 'Map of the Soul: 7,' BTS teases their new single "ON" on TikTok. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d8fc7bff74a6b9/698a0a8622fb85201de2aa07/bts-on-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # BTS Tests Out a TikTok Release and Viral Challenge Combo for 'On' to Get the Fan ARMY Assembled > Sponsored content. 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K-Pop band BTS is on the 2019 Time 100 list_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 20, 2020 11:06 PM UTC  SUGA, Jimin, RM, J-Hope and Jungkook of BTS perform onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. SUGA, Jimin, RM, J-Hope and Jungkook of BTS perform onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images—2020 Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 20, 2020 11:06 PM UTC Leave it to [BTS](https://time.com/5786954/most-underrated-bts-songs/) to keep [challenging expectations](https://time.com/5777661/bts-connect-new-york/) of how the music industry works. On Thursday, the [K-pop septet](https://time.com/5752407/bts-new-years-eve-2020/) released a 30-second clip of their new single, “ON,” on TikTok, the social video platform that has helped launch and popularize songs like [Lil Nas X](https://time.com/collection-post/5718849/lil-nas-x/)‘s “Old Town Road.” BTS’s strategy here is novel: a representative for TikTok shared with TIME that this is the first time an artist has introduced a single using the short-form video app as the initial platform. It was also very savvy: about an hour after the release, [over 20,000](https://www.tiktok.com/music/ON-30-sec-6794324059808073730?language=es&u%5Fcode=db22hlfebg8jl2×tamp=1582233254&utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fcampaign=client%5Fshare&utm%5Fmedium=android&share%5Fapp%5Fname=musically&share%5Fiid=6795554986848749317&source=h5%5Fm) fan-made videos featuring “ON” had already populated the app. (As usual, BTS’s latest activity also got the trending Twitter treatment.) This teaser release is a prelude to [_Map of the Soul: 7_,](https://time.com/5760803/bts-new-album/) their full-length album that comes out Feb. 21, just twelve hours after the “ON” clip. This is not the first time BTS is dipping into TikTok waters; the supergroup made an official account in September and broke the record for speedy account growth, picking up a million followers in under four hours. Shortly after, J-Hope, one of the BTS members, kicked off a [“Chicken Noodle Soup challenge”](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/entertainment/chicken-noodle-soup-challenge-scli-intl/index.html) based on one of his solo songs with Becky G. It’s also not the first time BTS have used the viral “challenge” concept to get fans to engage further with their message; [back in March](https://time.com/5560451/bts-persona-challenge/), the “Persona Challenge” asked fans to open up about personal growth. BTS is known for connecting with fans, called ARMY, on all kinds of platforms — and being early adopters of new technology. (Their use of the video-streaming service V Live, for instance, has been part of their strategy for making themselves accessible to their global audience for years, and they’re certainly not strangers to the Twitter selfie.) The company behind them, BigHit Entertainment, has also [made it a point](https://time.com/5681494/bts-bang-si-hyuk-interview/) to speak about the robust digital universe they’ve crafted for the group, and to try out new multimedia projects. So while ARMY awaits the full _Map of the Soul: 7_ release, the “ON Challenge” should certainly keep active fans busy — and serve to increase hype. > [](https://twitter.com/BTSPublicity/status/1230611546205716486) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/"},"headline":"BTS Tests Out a TikTok Release and Viral Challenge Combo for 'On' to Get the Fan ARMY Assembled","datePublished":"2020-02-20T23:06:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:01.735Z","description":"Welcome to the \"ON\" Challenge","url":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","onetime","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d8fc7bff74a6b9/698a0a8622fb85201de2aa07/bts-on-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d8fc7bff74a6b9/698a0a8622fb85201de2aa07/bts-on-challenge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show","caption":"62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show","creditText":"Getty Images—2020 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/","name":"BTS Tests Out a TikTok Release and Viral Challenge Combo for 'On' to Get the Fan ARMY Assembled"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2019 Time 100 | BTS","description":"K-Pop band BTS is on the 2019 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uMa8fPWx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-04-17T10:04:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uMa8fPWx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5788372/bts-on-challenge-tiktok/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```