Music Shows: Their chart system and terms you should know!

Music Shows: Your Chart System and Terms You Should Know!

Author: Helen Bosch / Sep 22, 2022

K-Pop Blog > Overview > Music Shows / Charts

If you like K-Pop and regularly watch K-Pop videos on YouTube, you have probably seen countless performances by your favorite idols from the various music shows such as Inkigayo or M Countdown. Thanks to the shows, we can look forward not only to many different performances every week, but also to the trophies that are awarded weekly.

Many groups win these trophies regularly, but just as many wait years for their first win on a music show. For most idols, winning a music show trophy means they are successful. It represents a breakthrough, especially for these smaller groups who have been waiting a long time for their first victory!

Even for larger groups that regularly win, these trophies are important. The success of a song is measured, among other things, by how many music show wins it has brought. Additionally, Idols' records often mention how quickly after their debut they won a music show for the first time and whether they won any Triple Crowns.

But have you ever wondered what criteria are used to determine the winner each week? In this article we will explain the chart system of the individual music shows and also translate special terms such as “Triple Crown” for you.

Criteria for winning music shows
Chart system of the individual music shows in detail
Terms related to music shows

Music shows that have a chart system and award trophies include Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Show Champion, Inkigayo, The Show and M Countdown. Before we continue, we will briefly introduce them to you:

Show! Music Core first aired in October 2005 and is the successor to several different chart shows previously broadcast on MBC. The chart system was abolished just a year later to focus more on music. Over the next few years, the charts were introduced and abolished several times. The current chart system has only been part of the program again since 2017!

Inkigayo is the oldest music show in existence today, having been broadcast since 1998. In fact, the show already existed in 1991 under the name “SBS Popular Song”; However, it was canceled in 1993 and only resumed in 1998. Inkigayo also abolished the chart system in 2012 to focus more on music, but reintroduced it in 2013.

The Show is one of the younger music shows, as it has only existed since 2011. The chart system we know today was introduced in 2014.

Show Champion first aired in 2012, so it's even younger than The Show. Since 2013, the show has also been running live instead of being recorded and broadcast afterwards.

Music Bank has existed since 1998, making it one of the oldest music shows. It was originally broadcast live, but in 2005 the producers decided to change the format and pre-record the show. Because ratings fell, Music Bank returned to the live format two years later.

M Countdown has been broadcast since 2004 and is now known, among other things, for challenges such as the MCD Vocal Challenge, in which idols who are currently appearing on the show do one together Cover a well-known song.

The fact that several music shows have since abolished their chart system and then reintroduced it after a short time shows that this contributes to the popularity of the shows. Other reasons for the success of these shows are of course that all the popular idols appear there and fans have the chance to see their stars live several times a week during the comeback; whether online or in person. Thanks to YouTube and subtitles, international fans around the world can watch the entire show or specific performances without any problems.

These are the biggest Korean channels and their programs!

We recently introduced you to the most popular Korean TV channels and their programs in another article. There you will also find a list of all the music shows that are currently broadcast, which channel they belong to and which other shows are broadcast on the same channel. If you are interested, you can take a closer look at the article.

There are many different criteria that play a role in determining winners in music shows. The four music shows show! Music Core, Show Champion, Inkigayo and The Show refer to the following five:

Digital Sales
Physical sales
Music Video Views
Audience vote
Broadcast (This refers to the number of times the song has been broadcast on the channel to which each music program belongs.)

Below we will give you a brief overview of how much weight the criteria have for the individual music shows and which ones play the biggest role.

These numbers change again and again over the years and it also happens that a criterion is abolished completely or a new one is added. The numbers we are presenting to you now (September 2022) may change again in the future.

Show! Music Core, for example, refers to 50% of digital sales! The other 50% consists of viewer voting (20%), physical sales (10%), music video views (10%) and broadcast (10%).

Inkigayo: Digital Sales 55% / Music Video Views 30% / Broadcast 10% / Physical Sales 10% / Audience Vote 10%

The Show: Digital Sales 40% / Music Video Views 20% / Broadcast 15% / Viewer Vote 10% / Physical Sales 10%

Show Champion: Digital Sales 35% / Broadcast 20% / Viewer Vote 20% / Physical Sales 15% / Music Video Views 10%

In fact, we can generally say that digital sales always take the largest share in the overall ranking. Viewer voting looks a little different for each show. Sometimes this means live votes and sometimes voting takes place in advance. The audience vote criterion often consists of a mixture of both.

As announced, let's now clarify a few terms that you should know when it comes to music shows!

Triple Crown: When a song ranks number 1 on the same music show for three weeks in a row. An artist can theoretically win multiple Triple Crowns with one song; one pro music show. But even popular artists only win a Triple Crown once in a while, so this award is a big success for them too!

In most music shows, a song that has won three times is subsequently excluded from the rankings.

Promotion: The advertisement for the current comeback. Part of the promotions are appearances in music shows.

Comeback Stage: The various performances of K-Pop Idols in music shows are called “Comeback Stage” or just “Stage”.

Goodbye Stage: When artists perform their song for the last time in a music show because the promotion for the current comeback ends afterwards, this last performance is often referred to as “ “Goodbye Stage”.

Special Stage: These are special performances, such as one-off collaborations between different artists. Every now and then the MCs perform a song together, especially when one or more new MCs join in a show.

MC: An MC is the host or presenter of a show. The term “MC” is an abbreviation for the English term “Master/Mistress of Ceremonies”. It is used not only in music shows but in all kinds of entertainment programs in South Korea.

Fanchant: Literally translated as “fan chant” or “speaking choir”.
Most K-pop songs, at least the title songs from the albums, have an official fan chant; Words or phrases sung by fans at certain points in the song to cheer on the artists on stage. Most of the time, the fan chants mainly consist of the idols' names and are sung in places where the idols themselves are not singing so as not to disturb them.

The fan chants are sung at all performances, such as concerts and of course also at music shows.

B-Side: As you know, every album has a title song that has a music video and is performed in the music shows. All other songs on the album are called B-Side. Sometimes artists in music shows perform not only their theme song but also a B-side.

Are there any questions about music shows that we should answer or terms that we should clarify? Please let us know in the comments!

To the blog overview

To the category "Overview"