Highlights
- 'sKakao Entertainment will debut a unified K-pop Artist Chart on Melon in 2026, aggregating streaming data across Asia.
- The initiative integrates metrics from Tencent Music platforms and LINE MUSIC, covering key markets like China, Japan, and Korea.
- The chart aims to standardize cross-regional performance data, shaping K-pop marketing, rankings, and global industry benchmarks.
South Korean entertainment giant Kakao Entertainment announced it has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with China-based Tencent Music and Japan-based LINE MUSIC to co-launch a unified pan-Asian “K-pop Artist Chart.” The initiative is designed to aggregate listening and engagement data across major Asian streaming platforms, with a debut on Melon planned for the first half of 2026.
The proposed chart would incorporate consumption and streaming metrics from Tencent Music's extensive presence in mainland China and Southeast Asia, as well as LINE MUSIC's ecosystem connected to the LINE messaging app, with a 99M user base across the world. Kakao Entertainment and partners believe it would provide a more comprehensive picture of artist performance across national boundaries.
Strategic Implications of Kakao Entertainment's K-pop Artist Chart
The endeavor builds on Melon’s legacy as a data infrastructure company. As South Korea’s leading music service, its TOP100 and HOT100 charts have served as an indicator of Korean artists’ popularity and engagement. In June 2023, Billboard started incorporating data from Melon to understand K-pop’s global popularity.
Under the MoU, it forms partnerships with Tencent Music’s Kugou Music, Kuwo Music, QQ Music, and JOOX, which would provide a better understanding of K-pop artists’ performance in mainland China. Additionally, the data from Japan’s LINE MUSIC would help in forming a unified metric for artist performance across Asia’s largest music markets.
Jun Masuda, CEO of LINE MUSIC, noted the significance, stating, “We are very glad that Japan’s LINE MUSIC has partnered with Asia’s leading music streaming services to launch the ‘K-pop Artist Chart’.”
Kakao co-CEO, Joseph Chang, said the chart’s launch is “very meaningful” for offering a reliable standard for artists, labels, and music partners, creating new benchmarks for cross-regional performance evaluation. He further noted that this initiative “will continue to contribute to the growth of the K-pop ecosystem and the elevation of its global influence.”
The partnership among three major music operators from three of the main South Asian markets would not only harmonize music performance metrics, but could also influence marketing allocation and content distribution priorities, after assessing consumer behaviour in each market. Furthermore, the project highlights the ongoing globalization of K-pop as a product category and the need to incorporate Asian consumption data for global rankings.
