Inventor Of “Chart Freezing” Suggests New Streaming Policy To Be Implemented

Kim Jin Woo, the mastermind behind the groundbreaking “chart freezing” method and Head Researcher at Circle Chart, is back with another revolutionary idea aimed at promoting fairness on music streaming platforms. He has proposed a “circuit breaker” strategy, akin to the mechanisms employed on the stock market, in an attempt to thwart the manipulation of music charts further.

G.O speaking about “sajaegi offers” being made to MBLAQ and 2PM. | afreecaTV

Chart manipulation, a contentious issue in the Korean music industry, compelled Kim to devise the “chart freezing” technique which was implemented back in 2018. Previously, an artist could rise to the top of the charts during low-traffic hours (for example, nighttime) even by garnering a small number of streams. This impact would last until the next morning’s rankings, making it easy to manipulate the charts at such hours.

[Chart freeze]
NB:The 6 music streaming services under the Gaon Chart Policy Committee, Naver, Bugs, Melon, Soribada, Mnet, & Genie, have agreed to put into effect a new policy “chart freezing” from 1am KST to 7am KST. With this, the charts will not update during this time.

— VIXXStardust (@VIXXStardust) July 31, 2018

Kim’s method proposed establishing “open” and “close” hours for music charts, mirroring the operations of the stock market, which stopped any kind of manipulation from being done during nighttime. Following the implementation of the “chart freezing” policy, charts would open every day at 7 AM and close every 1 AM. According to Kim, manipulating charts during the day was much more costly and even economically unfeasible, even from a sajaegi perspective, due to the huge number of streams you would need to do so.

top two trending articles on naver right now are calling out shaun for using sajaegi to chart #1 on melon and beat out strong groups like twice and bp… everyone knows

— misa •ᴗ• (rest) (@misayeon) July 17, 2018

This way, by completely freezing their charts after midnight until the morning, streaming platforms had found a way to finally stop the notorious manipulation of achievements and awards. Yet, the music chart innovator is not content to stop at “chart freezing.”

In a recent discussion with CBS No Cut News, Kim introduced his newest brainchild — the concept of a “circuit breaker.” The concept, borrowed from the stock market, involves momentarily halting the trading of a stock when its price either spikes or plummets suddenly.

Jin addressing sajaegi issues in their acceptance speech. It wasn't vicious. It was strong and beautiful. pic.twitter.com/weHDR0BCGg

— Liz⁷ i.a. (@justwnt2Bwhru_r) June 13, 2021

Kim suggests that the same concept could be applied to music charts, targeting songs that experience a rapid rise in rankings. The aim is to identify whether the sudden popularity is the result of genuine streams or manipulation by machines.

Singers and agencies shouldn’t have an issue with this. If artists are known to have manipulated charts, it is harder for them to promote. Therefore, if a singer is alleged to have manipulated charts, there would be data to refute the allegations, and in the process validate the true 1st place.

— Kim Jin Woo

MOMOLAND was accused of sajaegi following their rise to #1 on Hanteo Chart. After an investigation, the group was cleared of any accusations.

Kim’s “circuit breaker” proposal could revolutionize how music chart rankings are viewed, contributing to the credibility of the industry and ensuring that the spotlight shines on deserving artists. As Kim continues to find innovative ways to improve the transparency and fairness of music charts, the industry eagerly awaits to see how his new idea will be implemented and its potential impact.