Starting from the 5th of last month, Melon has been providing music streaming and download data to Billboard through its contract with Luminate Data Holdings, a data management company. Melon’s data is reflected in three charts: the South Korea Songs chart, which focuses on the Korean region within Billboard, the Billboard Global 200, which aggregates data from over 200 countries including the United States, and the Billboard Global Excl. US chart.
In the second week of June, when Melon’s data was fully incorporated into the Billboard Global 200, 14 K-pop songs entered the chart, surpassing the previous week’s 12 songs. Despite the increase in the number of songs, the average ranking of K-pop songs rose from 97th to 80th place. Additionally, several songs that had been released for some time experienced a resurgence in popularity. Songs like “I AM” by IVE climbed from 82nd to 47th place, and “Kitsch” by IVE reentered the chart at 187th place. Other K-pop songs, including “Flower” by BLACKPINK’s Jisoo (65th), “Son O Gong” by SEVENTEEN (90th), and “OMG” and “Ditto” by NewJeans, also reversed their declining trends. K-pop maintained its presence on the chart with 14 songs until the last week of June.
The “Melon effect” is also evident in the Billboard Global Excl. US chart. In the last week of June, after incorporating Melon’s data, the number of K-pop songs entering the chart increased to 20, a 25% increase from the 16 songs in the last week of May. The songs that ranked 1st to 5th on Melon’s weekly chart in June, such as (G)I-DLE’s “Queencard”, IVE’s “I AM”, aespa’s “Spicy”, and LE SSERAFIM’s “Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard’s Wife”, and “UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers),” achieved high rankings within the top 100 on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart.
The partnership between Melon and Billboard is expected to contribute not only to the continued global success of K-pop but also to the diversification of K-content. In the last week of June 2022, only four K-pop artists, including BTS, entered the Billboard Global 200. However, in the same period this year, the number of K-pop artists entering the chart increased to 11, almost tripled. Similarly, in the Billboard Global Excl. US chart, the number of K-pop artists increased from 8 in the last week of June 2022 to 12 in the same period this year. More diverse K-pop artists are now gaining global recognition through Melon and Billboard.
Park Doo Wan, Head of Melon Strategy at Kakao Entertainment, expressed that through the partnership with Billboard, Melon’s popular artists and songs have gained opportunities to be recognized globally. He emphasized Melon’s commitment to establishing itself as a leading music platform that accurately reflects music trends and promotes K-pop artists and music worldwide.
>> FIFTY FIFTY’s Billboard Triumph Sparks Excitement for Their Pending Music Revenue
Source (1)
