Revealing the Reality of Fraudulent Activities on Korea’s Largest Music Streaming Platform – MELON

An episode of the investigative show by SBS in 2020, “Unanswered Questions,” with the theme “The World of Fraud – Viral Marketing or Digital Music Chart Manipulation?” exposed the troubling tactics that have long plagued the K-Pop community.

Sophisticated Tricks

When a singer releases a new song simultaneously with a digital monster and books sajaegi (bulk buying), the orchestrators will boost the rankings of 3 to 4 songs of similar genres to that of the competitor. Consequently, the digital monster’s ranking will drop, making it easier for the singer to reach #1.

Due to the requirement of being in the same genre, the MelOn charts throughout 2019 were predominantly filled with ballads. This genre is more susceptible to sajaegi as people tend to empathize with the lyrics and phrases in ballads. Songs with moderate tempo or ballads often revolve around themes like drunkenness, longing for someone…

MelOn accounts are sold like vegetables in the market, ranging from 20,000 won ($17.39 USD). One person can purchase up to 100,000 accounts. To reach the top 100 on MelOn requires an expenditure of 100 million won ($86,956.52 USD), top 50 costs 150 million ($130,434.78 USD), and securing the top spot demands a hefty investment ranging from 300 to 350 million won ($260,869.57 to $304,347.83 USD).

Identifying which songs are susceptible to sajaegi is relatively easy; most have a sparse following and receive very low album ratings (below 3 stars). Following these signs, currently, about 20 positions in the top 100 MelOn chart are due to fraudulent activities.

Another fraudulent tactic involves slowing down servers or causing the website to lag for a few minutes to reduce the impact of streaming in a “natural” manner. The fraudulent accounts are genuine accounts of real people, hacked to stream songs, leave comments, and likes. About half a million accounts have been hacked in this manner.

In the past, SM, YG, JYP, and Star Empire have all requested investigations and arrests of the masterminds, but ultimately, the cases have faded into obscurity due to ‘insufficient evidence.’

Affected Idols?

Despite efforts to obscure the program’s findings, audiences can easily connect the dots. Some idols affected include WINNER (3 group comebacks, 1 Mino solo debut), TWICE, EXO (both the subunit CBX and solo songs by D.O and Baekhyun), and many others. There were even exchanges between fraudulent artists and service companies advising against manipulation when big groups like BLACKPINK, BTS, TWICE made comebacks in April 2020 because ‘it didn’t seem logical to defeat them on the charts.’ However, hackers could still act afterward, affecting digital music achievements and music show wins.

Notably, the list of fraudulent artists includes names like Nilo, Malvo, Lim Jaehyun, Song Haye, Vibe, Jeon Sanggeun, Jang Deokcheol, Woody, and more.

Artists Speak Out

In the investigative episode, Tiger JK, who revealed being approached by such services with promises of ‘undetectable’ manipulation and ‘straight to #1,’ expressed shock at the services pushing rankings to undermine competitors: “The only thing I could do was imply this behavior through my music. In the song ‘I Know,’ I directly referenced it in the chorus. The price of sajaegi at that time was about 100 million won,” shared Tiger JK.

Before the program aired, Block B’s Park Kyung caused a stir by posting on his personal SNS: “I also want to try sajaegi like Vibe, Song Ha Yea, Lim Jae Hyun, Jeon Sang Keun, Jang Deok Cheol, Hwang In Wook.” Immediately, the involved artists’ management strongly denied the accusations and threatened to sue Park Kyung for damaging their reputation, leading KQ Entertainment to publicly apologize. However, KQ later changed its stance, declaring readiness to go to court.

After the Program Aired

IU posted a story with a blurred photo of a young rapper who confessed openly: “I can understand why some people want to manipulate the charts” (this person later admitted to be rapper Itownkid). The singer wrote: “However, that behavior is not acceptable, please.” Sunmi mocked the episode further with a story photo accompanied by a 😑 expression. Other artists like HyunA, SG Wannabe’s Kim Jinho also voiced support for ending chart manipulation in the industry.

As for Vibe, the duo mentioned still firmly insisted that it was merely the result of a small investment in running viral marketing on Facebook. Their management company, Major9, accused SBS of editing a 6-hour-long interview and presenting evidence to prove their innocence. As for Nilo, this male singer has disabled comments on Instagram.

What Does MelOn Say?

Previously, MelOn assured complete elimination of sajaegi behavior. If it did occur, it wouldn’t significantly impact the rankings. However, after several company leaders were arrested for embezzlement, copyright infringement, alongside the recent sajaegi scandal, MelOn has yet to respond.