Is there an equivalent for the Billboard 200 in Korea?

    I was wondering the other day if Melon or Gaon digital chart is the equivalent for the Hot 100. (I came to the conclusion that it was gaon). But then i realized that there wasn’t anything similar to the billboard 200 chart in korea.


    I thought maybe the Gaon Album Chart but that only takes physical sales into account, no streaming and digital downloads.


    Idk maybe i’m missing something but Gaon or any other company should make a chart like the billboard 200, cause i think physical sales alone isn’t enough to rank albums success

  • Chaesoocrumbs

    Changed the title of the thread from “Is there an equivalent for the Billboard 200 in Kprea?” to “Is there an equivalent for the Billboard 200 in Korea?”.

    I’m the opposite I want western charts to stop counting physical and digital sales together


    Physical sales don’t measure how much a song is listened to and very easy to inflate. Having it separate both fandom and regular audience can be happy. The digital chart represents what’s actually being listened to and the physical chart represents the strongest fanbases.

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    I’m the opposite I want western charts to stop counting physical and digital sales together


    Physical sales don’t measure how much a song is listened to and very easy to inflate. Having it separate both fandom and regular audience can be happy. The digital chart represents what’s actually being listened to and the physical chart represents the strongest fanbases.

    The digital chart basically is represented by Hot100, though not tracked by whole album.


    If u know history of BB200, it used to be pure sales like Gaon, until drastic shift to streaming hence they had to start to reconsider in the era of digital streaming

    Quote from gerrard174

    The digital chart basically is represented by Hot100, though not tracked by whole album.


    If u know history of BB200, it used to be pure sales like Gaon, until drastic shift to streaming hence they had to start to reconsider in the era of digital streaming

    Duh. They should completely eliminate physical albums because phsyical albums are obsolete.

    They won't do this anytime soon because korea album consumption is really small outside fandoms


    Basically the average korean music listeners only listen to playlists of top 100 with only half dozen singers having a big enough public recognition to chart their b-sides


    Heck most Korean soloists barely release albums even putting out new single songs every 4 to 6 months


    A album chart combining streams and sales will be dominated by idol groups releases unless they severely and artificially reduce the weight of physical sales

    Quote from wendii

    Gaon has both a singles and albums chart.. what are y’all talking about?

    OP is referring to a chart which count streaming into album equivalent sales like BB200


    BB200 is a combination of physical pure sales, digital sales and streaming (converted to album equivalent units).


    Gaon chart is pure physical sales. BB200 used to be same too

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    Duh. They should completely eliminate physical albums because phsyical albums are obsolete.

    NO. The ability to sell albums is still important because albums are more expensive and it is accordingly weighed more heavily. Some artists in the west still able to pull great physical sales

    Taylor Swift, Adele, to name few. You cant really ignore their power on physical side.

    Quote from gerrard174

    NO. The ability to sell albums is still important because albums are more expensive and it is accordingly weighed more heavily. Some artists in the west still able to pull great physical sales

    Taylor Swift, Adele, to name few. You cant really ignore their power on physical side.

    Who said selling albums wasn’t a sign of success or important lol it is. It just doesn’t reflect the music being heard and is inflated and should be a separate chart.


    Korea already does it best keeping separated. The fans can be happy with the gaon and hanteo sales. While we can look at the digital char to see what’s being heard by actual people.

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    Who said selling albums wasn’t a sign of success or important lol it is. It just doesn’t reflect the music being heard and is inflated and should be a separate chart.


    Korea already does it best keeping separated. The fans can be happy with the gaon and harem sales. While we can look at the digital char to see what’s being heard by actual people.

    uhhh, tic tac interesting autocorrect there. :zipr:

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    Duh. They should completely eliminate physical albums because phsyical albums are obsolete.

    At least no one can a CD away from you once you've bought it

    Songs can be removed from digital and streaming platforms over a dispute


    I would like to see a world where there is just one or another

    Either just physical formats or just digital downloads and streaming

    There would be less arguing and complications at least

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    Who said selling albums wasn’t a sign of success or important lol it is. It just doesn’t reflect the music being heard and is inflated and should be a separate chart.


    Korea already does it best keeping separated. The fans can be happy with the gaon and hanteo sales. While we can look at the digital char to see what’s being heard by actual people.

    Digital charts are available for BB also - Hot100 for single tracks not album.


    Korean chart also doesnt have a chart for digital album (stream+download).

    What’s the point when people hardly have a CD player to play it lol. The world is already like that the vast majority of physical albums are merchandise not for listening purposes.


    I do think physical albums are a sign of a groups popularity so it’s a good metric for measure. I just think they should always be separated from digitals.

    Quote from Tic_tac_toe

    What’s the point when people hardly have a CD player to play it lol. The world is already like that the vast majority of physical albums are merchandise not for listening purposes.


    I do think physical albums are a sign of a groups popularity so it’s a good metric for measure. I just think they should always be separated from digitals.

    It's less convenient I know

    You can get an external drive

    I listen to mine anyway, in cars

    Quote from Queeeenie

    It's less convenient I know

    You can get an external drive

    I listen to mine anyway, in cars

    I’d just... not listen to music unavailable or download it illegally on my phone lol. Haha. Neither my car nor my computer have a CD player lol. So literally there isn’t a CD player in my near vocinity. My albums are strictly for decoration.


    Anyway there are markets like Japan for example where ppl do still actively use their CD players and buy CDs. So I guess it makes more sense for them indeed.

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