Music Shows: Their chart system and terms you should know!
K-Pop Blog > Overview > Music Shows / Charts
If you like K-Pop and regularly watch K-Pop videos on YouTube, you've probably seen countless performances of your favorite idols from the various music shows like Inkigayo or M Countdown. Thanks to these shows, we can not only look forward to many different performances every week, but also to the trophies that are awarded every week.
Many groups win these trophies regularly, but just as many wait years for their first win in a music show. Winning a music show trophy means success for most idols. Especially for these smaller groups who wait a long time for their first win, it represents a breakthrough!
Even for larger groups that win regularly, these trophies do matter. The success of a song is measured, among other things, by how many music show wins it has brought in. In addition, records of idols often include how soon after their debut they won a music show for the first time and whether they earned Triple Crowns.
But have you ever wondered what criteria are used to determine the winner each week? In this article, we will explain you the chart system of each music show and also translate special terms like "Triple Crown" for you.
- Criteria for winning music shows
- Chart system of each music show in detail
- Terms around 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 go any further, let's introduce them to you very briefly:
Show! Music Core first aired in October 2005 and is the successor to several different chart shows that previously aired on the MBC channel. However, the chart system was abolished just a year later in order to focus more on music. In the next few years, the charts were introduced and abolished several more times. Only since 2017 has the current chart system been a part of the program again!
Inkigayo is the oldest of the music shows that exist today, as it has been on the air 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 back in 2013.
The Show is one of the younger music shows, as it has only existed since 2011. In 2014, the now-familiar chart system was introduced.
Show Champion was first aired in 2012, so it is even younger than The Show. Since 2013, the show has also been running live, instead of being recorded first and broadcast after the fact.
Music Bank has been around 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. However, because the ratings dropped, Music Bank returned to the live format two years later.
M Countdown has aired since 2004 and is now known for challenges such as the MCD Vocal Challenge, in which idols currently appearing on the show cover a well-known song together.
From the fact that several music shows have abolished their chart system and then reintroduced it after a short time, we can see that it 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, giving fans 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 also watch the whole show or certain performances without any problems.
Recently, in another article, we introduced you to the most popular Korean television stations and their programs. There you can also find a list of all the music shows that are currently aired, to which channel they belong and which shows are also aired on the same channel. If this interests you, feel free to take a closer look at the article.
There are many different criteria that play a role in determining the 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 Voting
- Broadcast (This refers to how many times the song was broadcast on the station to which each music show belongs.)
Below, we'll give you a brief overview of how much weight the criteria have on each music show and which ones play the biggest role in each case.
These numbers change over the years and it also happens that a criterion is completely abolished or a new one is added. So the numbers we present to you now (September 2022) may change again in the future.
Show! Music Core , for example, refers to 50% digital sales! The other 50% consists of audience 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 voting 10%
The Show: Digital Sales 40% / Music Video Views 20% / Broadcast 15% / Audience Voting 10% / Physical Sales 10%
Show Champion: Digital Sales 35% / Broadcast 20% / Audience Vote 20% / Physical Sales 15% / Music Video Views 10%
In fact, we can generally say that digital sales always take the biggest part in the overall ranking. Audience voting looks a bit different for each show. Sometimes it means live votes and sometimes it means voting in advance. Often the audience voting criterion is also a mixture of both.
As announced, let's now clarify a few terms you should know when it comes to music shows!
Triple Crown: When a song reaches number 1 in the same music show three weeks in a row. So, theoretically, an artist can even win multiple Triple Crowns with one song; one per music show. However, 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 eliminated from the judging afterwards.
Promotion: The promotion of the current comeback. Part of the promotions are the performances in music shows.
Comeback Stage: The various performances of K-Pop Idols in music shows are called "Comeback Stage" or simply "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 called "Goodbye Stage".
In most music shows, a song that has won three times is eliminated from the judging afterwards.
Promotion: The promotion of the current comeback. Part of the promotions are the performances in music shows.
Comeback Stage: The various performances of K-Pop Idols in music shows are called "Comeback Stage" or simply "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 called "Goodbye Stage".
Special Stage: These are special performances, such as one-time collaborations between different artists. From time to time, MC's, among others, perform a song together, especially when one or more new MC's are added to 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 on music shows, but on all sorts of entertainment shows in South Korea.
Fanchant:
Most K-pop songs, at least the title songs from the albums, have an official fanchant; words or phrases sung by fans at certain points in the song to cheer on the artists on stage. Most of the time, the fanchants consist mainly of the idols' names and are sung at points where the idols themselves are not singing in order not to disturb them.
The fanchants are sung at all performances, such as concerts, and of course at music shows.
B-Side: As you know, each album has a title song that has a music video and is performed at music shows. All the other songs on the album are called B-Side. Sometimes artists perform not only their title song but also a B-Side in music shows.
Are there any questions about music shows we should answer or terms we should clarify? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
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