Blackpink's 'Whistle' hits 600 million views on YouTube

Blackpink's "Whistle" achieved 600 million views on YouTube as of early Wednesday morning. It is the seventh time the girl group has hit that mark with a music video, YG Entertainment said. The other Blackpink songs to receive that sort of play..

Blackpink's "Whistle" music video surpassed 600 million views on YouTube as of early Wednesday morning. [YG ENTERTAINMENT]

Blackpink's "Whistle" achieved 600 million views on YouTube as of early Wednesday morning.

It is the seventh time the girl group has hit that mark with a music video, YG Entertainment said.

The other Blackpink songs to receive that sort of play on YouTube are: "Ddu-Ddu-Ddu-Ddu" (1.4 billion views), "Kill This Love" (1.1 billion), "Boombaya" (900 million), "As If It's Your Last" (900 million), "How You Like That" (700 million) and "Playing with Fire" (600 million).

The entertainment company said Blackpink is the first K-pop girl group to achieve the feat, adding that "Solo," a single by group member Jennie, is about to break the 600 million mark.

"Whistle" is one of the tracks from "Square One," released in 2016.

Straight after its release, "Whistle" topped numerous music charts and remained at the top for 16 days. The song was No. 1 on iTunes charts in 14 countries, which is unprecedented for a girl group debut.

Blackpink managed to attract 23 million new subscribers to its YouTube channel over the past year and now has 55 million, making it second most subscribed artist on YouTube after Justin Bieber.

YG Entertainment said Blackpink is gearing up to hold a livestream concert on Jan. 31. The concert will be the group's first after the release of its first regular album, "The Album," in October.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]