Melon Launches “Global K-Chart” Integrating Fan Activities from South Korea, China, and Japan — aespa Claims First No. 1 Spot

The K-pop music platform Melon has introduced the “Global K-Chart,” a system that aggregates fan activities from South Korea, China, and Japan in one unified chart. Launched officially on June 2, this chart is the result of collaboration between Kakao Entertainment, which operates Melon, China’s Tencent Music, and Japan’s Line Music. It represents the industry’s first attempt to rank K-pop artists by combining data from the leading music platforms in these three countries.

The rankings on the Global K-Chart are not determined solely by streaming numbers. They are calculated by summing song plays with additional metrics such as fans’ likes and shares. Given that K-pop is an “industry based on fan communities,” this approach quantifies fans’ active participation beyond mere listening volume.

aespa has secured the first No. 1 position on the Global K-Chart, maintaining this rank across daily, weekly, and monthly rankings. The group’s new song “Lemonade” has also dominated local charts simultaneously. It reached No. 1 on Japan’s Oricon Daily Album Chart and China’s QQ Music Rising Chart, while also entering the top 50 on Spotify’s Global Chart. The multinational composition of aespa, featuring Japanese member Giselle and Chinese member Ningning, symbolizes the purpose of this new chart, which aims to consolidate fan support from South Korea, China, and Japan.

Previous domestic music charts were criticized for failing to adequately reflect the enthusiasm of overseas fans. Melon explained that by targeting markets in South Korea, China, and Japan—combined to reach 1.6 billion users—it seeks to overcome this limitation. This is because chart systems like America’s Billboard, which rely solely on song-level streaming data, struggle to fully capture K-pop’s unique fan loyalty and content consumption patterns.

For K-pop fans, chart rankings are not merely a matter of simple ranking. Playing songs even in the early hours of the morning to boost their favorite artists’ positions is seen as “proving the influence of one’s favorite artist.” This accumulated fan passion has now expanded beyond South Korea to include China and Japan as well.

A Melon official stated, “The Global K-Chart is the only chart that can reflect the activities of overseas fans, which have not been included in the Melon Chart — long regarded as a key benchmark for K-pop.” The official added, “The measure of success for this chart will not be based on specific metrics, but rather on how the Global K-Chart establishes itself as a standard point for the K-pop industry.”