Music programs of South Korea are broadcast weekly, with different artists performing on the shows to promote their music.[1]

South Korea's largest broadcasting companies each have their own show, which are broadcast on different channels. SBS has Inkigayo, KBS has Music Bank, MBC has Show! Music Core (also known simply as Music Core), Mnet has M Countdown, MBC M has Show Champion and SBS MTV has The Show.

Music programs

Current

Past music programs

Performances

Artists commonly pre-record performances and appear live on the show for interviews and the ending of the show, where the week's winning artist is announced. For all music shows, artists accumulate points from the previous week for them to be nominated for first place in the next.[22]

They also use music programs to promote. 'Debut stage' is the term used for artists who perform on the shows for the first time, usually serving as their first live performance when they debut as an artist. On the other hand, a 'comeback stage' is the term used for the first performance of the artist on the shows with their new songs and the start of a new promotional cycle, after the end of their debut cycle.[23]

Fans are also allowed to attend pre-recordings and live shows to support the artists for free if they apply for tickets on each of the show's websites, with the condition that they don't record or take photos during the recording. Fans who disobey these rules will be banned from the show, along with fellow fans who came to support the group.[24]

Show! Music Core's lip-sync ban

During an interview with 'Music Core' CP Park Hyun Suk on July 1, 2014, he was reported to have told Munhwa Ilbo, "We will not allow people who are not equipped with the basics as a singer to perform on stage. Even if one's individual part is short, that is fine. The singers who perform on stage must sing." He argues that this is to discourage groups who record almost 100% of their music for the shows, to determine the truly talented idol groups.[25]

Chart systems

A crucial element of each music program in South Korea is that every program has a voting system. Each program has different ways to count the votes and decide the winning artist of the week, so the possibilities of an artist winning is different for every program. Billboard reasoned that it's so that the music show scene "doesn't feel static", wherein the result would be the same for each show. While most programs prioritize digital sales, they differ in other areas such as SNS points, physical sales, broadcast points, live votes, etc. For instance, for some time, Music Bank's K-Chart included the song's physical sales in their computation, while SBS' Inkigayo's chart did not.[22] Because an artist must accumulate points during the first week of promotions, they are not eligible to win on music shows in first week and may only be included in the music charts since and include the second week.

Paul Han, who is a co-owner of the English-language K-pop blog Allkpop claims that it is gratifying for dedicated fans of these artists to watch these music shows when their favorite artists win because of the presence of an actual trophy and an encore stage. Han said that "It's just much more satisfactory to receive a big trophy with all of your peers around. In a way, it's sort of like a mini-music award show every week, and only one can be the winner".[22]

Music program Channel Day Chart system Condition to be ranked
The Show SBS M

(formerly SBS MTV)

Tuesday
  • Pre-score: Total 90% (Digital (downloads and streaming) (40%), album sales (10%), music video views (20%), broadcast (15%), Starpass pre-voting (5%))
  • For The Show Choice nominees only: Starpass live voting 10%
 Attend on broadcast date. Exception: Loona on July 13, 2021, due to COVID-19 quarantine.
Show Champion MBC M

(formerly MBC Music)

Wednesday Digital (streaming + downloads) (35%) + Album sales (15%), Pre-voting (Idol Champ) (20%), broadcast score (20%), SNS (10%)[26] As long as this songs in vote list. Songs that have already got triple crown are not eligible
M Countdown Mnet Thursday Digital (streaming + downloads) (45%), album sales (15%), music video views (15%), Pre-voting (a sum of pre-votes on Mwave, Whosfan, Mnet and Mnet Japan) (15%), broadcast score (10%), live text voting (10%) (weekly 1st place chart nominees only)[27] Must promote for at least one music show in either that week or the weeks before. Songs that have already got triple crown are not eligible
Music Bank KBS Friday Digital (streaming + downloads) (65%), album sales (5%), KBS broadcast score (KBS2 (TV) and KBS Cool FM and KBS Happy FM (radio)) (20%), panel survey (10%)[28] Top 200 of at least one of five charts that Music Bank use
Show! Music Core MBC Saturday
  • Pre-score: Total 90% (Digital Sales 50%, Album Sales 10%, Music Video Views 10%, Viewers Committee Pre-voting (by 2,000 people) 5%, MBC Radio Broadcast 10%, Global Fans Vote 5%)
  • For 1st place nominees only: Mubeat live voting 5%. Audience Live Voting 5%
 New songs within two months, since release date (example: If a song released at 2 January then it will be not eligible after 2 March). Songs that have already got quintuple crown are not eligible[29]
Inkigayo SBS Sunday Digital (streaming + downloads) (55%), SNS (YouTube views) (30%), album sales (10%), advance viewer votes (5%), On-Air (10%), live-vote (5%; for 1st place nominees only)[30][31] Songs that have already got triple crown are not eligible. Digital requirements is currently unknown

Chart records

In 2012, Psy's "Gangnam Style" won on Music Bank for a record ten consecutive weeks,[36] surpassing the previous record of nine consecutive wins by Girls' Generation's "Gee" in 2009.[37]

In September 2015, Girls' Generation became the first artist in South Korea to accumulate a total of 100 wins on music shows.[38]

BTS currently holds the record for most awarded song with "Dynamite", released in August 2020. The song won the first-place award for a total of 32 times.[39] The group also holds the record for the most first-place wins in a year as they won a total of 50 times, and won on Show! Music Core for a record 16 consecutive weeks (10 with Dynamite and 6 with Life Goes On) in 2020.[40][41][42][43]

International impact

According to Caitlin Kelley of Billboard, South Korean music shows have incorporated international participation through social networking sites such as YouTube, which has been integrated into their voting system with the views of an artist's music video. She also credits these music shows for their participation in the globalization of K-pop. Every music program has its own regularly updated YouTube account, which allows persons outside of South Korea the opportunity to view the artists' performance, thereby offering a larger exposure of K-pop acts to other parts of the world. In a 2018 interview with Billboard, Dr. Suk-Young Kim, a professor at the University of California, claimed that "YouTube is how you circulate yourself internationally" but outside of the website, South Korean music had already reached overseas fans directly by "bringing those music chart shows overseas and creating a live concert out of them", citing Music Bank which has gone on world tours since 2011 as an example. Kim also mentioned KCON, a music festival organized by M Countdown, as a means to showcase "every element of Hallyu encompassing pop music, TV dramas, movies, fashion, food, and beauty".[22]

Controversies

Show! Music Core ranking

Main article: MBC TV (South Korean TV channel) § Show! Music Core ranking

Live Music Camp incident

Main article: Rux § Live Music Camp incident

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