Fans Can’t Stream Their Idols To First Place Anymore – Here’s Exactly How Melon Charts Have Changed And How It Affects Fandoms
Melon is one of the top streaming music sites fandoms often use whenever their idols have a come back, given its popularity amongst the public. Although many other sites such as Soribada, Genie, FLO and Vibe are available, Melon has been the app of choice for years. However, it seems that this might change given the changes to the system.
These changes were previously announced in May, but were implemented in July only, perhaps to give fans time to adjust. In fact, with their comeback single, “How You Like That” in late June, BLACKPINK became the last girl group to have a number one ranking on Melon.
On the 6th of July, Melon removed the real-time chart system. For those familiar with mass- streaming, the chart rankings are updated every hour, before a “freezing” at 1am KST, picking up again the next morning. With the new system in place, the real-time chart has been replaced with a new chart called ’24Hits’. The ’24Hits’ chart operates on a 24 hour basis, refreshing only at 7pm KST every day.
The key point of change is that the charts will now only take into account one stream per person, per song, every 24 hours. Streaming the song multiple times in a day will now not affect the song’s entry into charts or count as streams. This could be a huge blow to fandoms that rely heavily on mass-streaming, as previously up to one stream per hour was the norm.
Given the strong competition to take up rankings on the charts, Melon has also removed the ranking system, choosing not to indicate the ranking numbers anymore. Prior to the change, the charts were always overpowered by fandoms, bringing about opinions that the charts were no longer an accurate reflection of overall popularity with the public. Now, no singer is able to rank “first place” on Melon.
Even so, many fandoms have refused to update their Melon Music mobile applications as the update would mean losing excess to the real-time charts. Currently the old version still provides access to the real-time chart function.
The change may be uncomfortable for those who have prided themselves by numbers and results, but many believe that it will create a more conducive environment for enjoying and producing music.
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