Melon Takes Action Against 'Eumwon Sajegi', Removes Real-Time Chart (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Melon, a music streaming platform operated by Kakao, will eliminate real-time charts within the first half of this year. The industry has long criticized real-time charts for causing market distortions such as 'music chart manipulation' (manipulating music chart rankings).

◆ From 1 hour to 24 hours aggregation = On the 19th, Melon announced, "The real-time chart, which is currently aggregated based on 1-hour usage, will be changed to a 24-hour basis." Currently, Melon's real-time chart counts the number of times a song is played on Melon every hour and ranks up to the top 100.

Melon explained, "Only one play per person per song will be counted based on a 24-hour period." This change will make it impossible for idol fans to manipulate play counts through repeated streaming attacks or for music chart manipulation to occur.

Melon will also remove the display of song rankings and rank fluctuations. Currently, the current rank is shown to the left of the song title and rank changes to the right. The purpose is to reduce users' immersion in ranking competition.

◆ Pursuing musical diversity = Policies to enhance musical diversity have also been prepared. The newly revamped chart will include a 'shuffle play' feature, which plays songs in a random order. By adopting shuffle play as the default method, users will have more opportunities to encounter mid- to lower-tier songs and enjoy a wider variety of music.

Currently, most music services play songs starting from the top-ranked tracks on the chart.

Kakao plans to support users in exploring trends from multiple perspectives such as ▲users' preferred music and ▲various themed music through Melon's new chart service, providing the joy of discovering new music.

A Kakao representative said, "We are considering ways for users to discover and enjoy a variety of music with trends and expertise alongside their preferred music," adding, "Since millions of users, music ecosystem participants, and rights holders have diverse opinions and perspectives, we will devote sufficient time to listen and reflect on them."

Meanwhile, 'FLO,' operated by SK Telecom, also eliminated real-time charts in March and introduced the 'FLO Chart,' which is based on a 24-hour cumulative standard.