[Info] Important Guide to Korean Music Show Charts.

Important Guide to Korean Music Show Charts

* represents criteria that I-fans can participate in

M! Countdown - Thursdays at 6PM KST
40% digital sales (Mnet, MelOn, Soribada, Bugs)*
10% album sales (Hanteo)*
15% global fan vote*
10% preferences of music experts
5% live show preferences
5% real-time charts
10% real-time SMS votes


Music Bank - Fridays at 6:10PM KST
65% digital sales (Dosirak, MelOn, Bugs, Mnet, Soribada)*
5% album sales (Hanteo, Synnara, Hottracks)*
20% broadcast exposure
10% viewers’ choice award


Music Core - Saturdays at 4:20PM KST
No music chart

Inkigayo - Sundays at 3:50PM KST
60% digital sales (MelOn, Cyworld, Dosirak, Bugs, Soribada)*
5% album sales (Hanteo, Synnara)*
5% SBS homepage voting
20% research (World Research)*
10% # of viewers (Air Monitor)

Criteria Details
*Digital sales – This counts the sales of the mp3, not of the physical album. Of all the Korean music sites listed, i-fans are only allowed to buy from Soribada. The criteria for the music sites themselves differ. Melon counts their score from 40% streaming and 60% downloads whereas Soribada/Mnet/Bugs count their scores from 50% streaming and 50% downloads. I-fans cannot stream from any of the music sites! And listening to the previews does not count towards the chart. Tutorial for Soribada to come soon!

*Album sales – This includes the sales of the physical album both online and offline. All the music programs use the Hanteo chart and some include Synnara or Hottracks. You must make sure that the store you are buying from counts towards one of them! Your best bet is to buy from stores that report to Hanteo because it is one of the biggest, most well-known charts. Here’s a list of stores you can refer to for purchasing an album: YesasiaKpopMart KpopTown DVDHeaven Music-Plaza Aladdin Synnara (Music-Plaza and Aladdin are US+CAN only. Synnara and Aladdin are in Korean.)

*Mnet global fan vote – Mnet is the only site that allows I-fans to vote. They have an English and Japanese site. The English site provides Chineseand Spanish translations. The voting period is every Friday from 11AM until Monday at 9AM KST. You are allowed to vote once a day BUT you can cheat the system by making multiple accounts with different emails. Votes make up 15% of M! Countdown’s chart.

*Inkigayo research – Research counts for 20% of Inkigayo’s Take 7. It’s not specified how it works or what time it measures the search results.
Search 샤이니: Naver Nate Daum Melon Bugs Soribada Dosirak (Clear your cookies every time you search!)


This just came up recently on Shakizi. They are going to try and get 샤이니셜록대박 (SHINeeSherlockdaebak) on the top real-time searched terms list on Naver and Nate at these specific times: 3/16 at 12PM KST, 3/17 at 9PM KST, and 3/18 at 9PM KST. The searching will go on for 20 minutes on Naver and for 10 minutes on Nate. You should clear your cookies so every time you search, it will be counted.

Last updated March 15, 2012
All information in this post has been compiled and written by kimchi hana via SFI.