[TUTORIAL] Supporting EXO’s Comeback by Helping Them on Music Charts

dailyexo:

Yet another comeback is upon us, and there are some simple ways in which we can contribute towards its success.

Streaming the music video and the official uploads of EXO’s weekly music show performances, digital streaming on MelOn and Genie, voting and interacting with the official SNS accounts are the simplest ways in which you can help. Purchasing EXO’s albums is another. This tutorial will help you undertsand how you should go about doing each of these things.

The tutorial is divided into two section: ‘Chart Rankings Criteria’ and ‘How You Can Help’. It may appear somewhat overwhelming at first, but is quite simple in structure and you should have no trouble locating the specific information you require, and putting it to practice. Each entry in the first section is linked to a corresponding detailed subsection in the second by means of a number in square brackets. The subsections are numbered and marked by a star. You may read the tutorial in full, or simply refer to the individual subsections you require.

Let’s work together to make this comeback EXO’s most successful to date. We Are One!

★ CHART RANKINGS CRITERIA ★

ㅡ Mnet M! Countdown (엠넷 엠! 카운트다운)

• 50% - Digital music sales (Mnet, MelOn, Genie, Bugs) - [2]
• 15% - Physical album sales (Hanteo Chart) - [1]
• 15% - Social media score (Official Youtube MV streaming) - [5]
• 10% - Popularity score (Online pre-voting, 1000-person committee preference) - [3]
• 10% - Mnet Channel broadcast score
• 10% - Live broadcast real-time voting score (for top 3 artist only) - [6]

ㅡ KBS Music Bank (KBS 뮤직뱅크)

• 65% - Digital charts (Online downloads and streaming - MelOn, Soribada, Bugs) - [2]
• 5% - Physical album sales (Hanteo, Synnara, Hot Tracks) - [1]
• 20% - KBS broadcast frequency score (Frequency of appearance on KBS television and radio channels) - [9]
• 10% - Audience preference (KBS National Panel)

ㅡ MBC Show! Music Core (MBC 쇼! 음악중심)

• 60% - Digital and physical sales - [1],[2]
• 10% - Video score
• 10% - Viewer Committee points (pre-voting by a committee of 2000 people) - [7]
• 15% - Live SMS voting (1st place nominees only) - [6]
• 5% - MBC radio broadcast frequency score - [8]

ㅡ SBS Inkigayo (SBS 인기가요)

• 55% - Digital music sales (MelOn, Genie, Bugs!) - [2]
• 5% - Physical album sales (Gaon Chart) - [1]
• 35% - SNS points (YouTube views as ranked by the Gaon Aggregate SNS Score Chart) - [5]
• 10% - SBS television and radio broadcast frequency score (Melon) - [8]
• 5% - Viewer pre-voting (‘Melon Aztalk’ app) - [4]

ㅡ MBC Show Champion (MBC 쇼 챔피언)

• 40% - Digital music sales (Naver Music, MelOn, Bugs!, Genie Music) - [2]
• 10% - Physical album sales - [1]
• 15% - MBC Music broadcast score - [8]
• 15% - Musical experts’ preference
• 20% - Online voting - [3]

★ HOW YOU CAN HELP ★

★ 1. Physical Sales

Physical album sales are monitored by the ‘Hanteo Chart’ and ‘Gaon Music Chart’. The former monitors the daily, weekly and monthly sales, and counts towards the weekly music show rankings, while the latter tracks the total yearly physical and digital music sales, and together with the ‘Hanteo’ chart counts towards the end-of-year award shows.

• Only pre-orders and sales made within 6 weeks of the release count towards the end-of-year awards. Purchase your album within that window.
• Pre-orders serve as an indication of demand and determine the total number of albums put into circulation (the stock). If pre-orders are low, the stock is more likely to run out early. Re-stocking can take up to two weeks, during which no albums will be sold. Thus, all those who can should pre-order their album(s).
• The sales of the Korean and Chinese versions of the albums are now tallied separately. That means that only the Korean version is of relevance to the success of EXO’s comeback. We should support both versions, but the Korean one should take precedence.
• If buying only one album, it is best that you pre-order. If buying multiple albums (this is especially applicable to organisers of group orders), spread out yoru purchaes over 6 weeks, to maintain demand and keep EXO’s album on top of the weekly charts.
• Purchase your albums only from retailers whose sales count towards the ‘Hanteo’ and ‘Gaon’ charts.

Sales from the following online retailers are certain to count towards the charts (the list below includes only major retailers about whom there is no doubt):

Synnara | Ktown4u | KpopTown | Kpopmart | Leesmusic | Tower Records

• Those with a Korean Citizen Registration Number (주민등록번호) or a Foreign Resident Registration Number (외국인등록번호) may also use purhcase their albums from HotTracks.
• Those in Korea may purchase their album from regular music stores.
• Those in Japan should purchase their albums from Tower Records. In addition to counting towards the Korean charts, sales by this retailer will also be reflected on the ‘Oricon Chart’.

★ 2. Digital Sales (Downloads + Streaming)

Digital sales represent the most important component of the rankings criteria for weekly music shows.

Sales from the following online music portals contribute towards the digital sales component of one or more of the music charts:

MelOn | Genie | Bugs! | Mnet | Naver Music | Soribada | Olleh

• Genie and MelOn are the most important and accessible to overseas fans, but due to new sign-up requirements, new overseas users can only stream using the former.
• Purchasing EXO’s music through iTunes will not count towards the Korean music charts or have an impact on weekly music shows, but doing well on the iTunes charts has become a matter of prestige in the last few years, making iTunes downloads much more important than in the past.

ㅡ Streaming guide:

Outline of information per site (large version [click]):

ㅡ Genie

Computer | Mobile app: iOS - Android

[sign-up tutorial]

• Access the computer link and log in using your Twitter, Facebook or KakaoTalk account.
• In order to stream for free you will need Genie coupons, which are shared in the form of links on Twitter by sources such as @exogenielink, @EXO_KLM_Vote, @THEWARFOREXO4G, @fsforexo and @STREAM_EXOL. The coupons can only be used on a computer.
• Each Genie link allows a total of 100 songs to be streamed.
• Stream each song only once, per hour, per account.
• Do not waste the coupons! If you stream more than once per hour using the same account, the coupons are still used up, but only one stream is counted.
• To stream more than once per hour, you must create multiple accounts. Log out after streaming, click on the coupon link again and log in using a different account.
• Do not pause the song while streaming and keep the player volume above 50% (you may lower or mute your speaker volume).
• The amount of free streams is displayed in red on the upper right-hand side of the music player pop-up window. Once the number hits zero the coupon is used up.
• Make sure the full song is playing. If the time bar only displays 1 minute, you are listening to a preview, and you stream is not being counted.

ㅡ MelOn

Computer] | Mobile app - iOS, Android

[sign-up tutorial]

ㅡ Bugs!

Computer | Mobile app: iOS - Android - Windows phone

ㅡ Mnet

Computer | Mobile app: iOS - Android

ㅡ Soribada

Computer: Korean site - Global site | Mobile app: iOS - Android

ㅡ Olleh

Computer | Mobile app: iOS | Android

★ 3. Online Pre-Voting

ㅡ Mnet M! Countdown - [vote here] - You will need to create a Mnet ID (very simple process, as the site is available in multiple languages, and you can use your Twitter or Facebook accounts for quick sign-up).

• Voting period, Friday 11:00 KST to Monday 9:00 KST
• One vote, per account, per day
• Ten votes per IP address, per day

ㅡ MBC Show Champion - [vote here] - Voting is open Wednesday to Saturday. You will need an MBC Plus account: tutorial. When voting:

• Locate EXO on the list
• Tick the box on the left of EXO’s entry
• Scroll down and click on ‘투표하기’

★ 4. Melon Aztalk Pre-Voting (SBS Inkigayo)

This category is worth 5% of the overall SBS Inkigayo score.

• The voting takes place every week, from Sunday (just after the SBS Inkigayo broadcast) to Saturday.
• Only fans in Korea can download the ‘Melon Atalk’ app required for voting.

Download: iOS | Android

★ 5. Public Interest/SNS Points (SBS Inkigayo and Mnet M! Countdown)

Public interest helps raise EXO’s profile and is also important for a number of end-of-year awards. In addition, SNS points (YouTube + Twitter) are worth 35% of the overall SBS Inkigayo score and 10% of Mnet M! Countdown’s score. It is best when fans work together so please keep an eye for announcements about public interest projects (streaming, searching and similar).

You can help raise EXO’s public profile and gather SNS points for them in the following ways:

ㅡ YouTube:

Support EXO’s comeback by streaming their 'Universe’ (Korean) MV!

• Subscribe to EXO’s and SMTown’s official YoutTube Channels: SMTown | EXO
• Please focus primarily on streaming the Korean version of ‘Universe’, as it is only the view-count of the Korean version that affects EXO’s standing on weekly music shows and contributes towards the success of their comeback. In addition, please also continue streaming 'Power’, 'Ko Ko Bop’, as well as the official uploads of EXO’s weekly music show performances.
• Stream, give thumbs up and comment positively in response to all EXO-related content.

– Music video streaming tips:

• Use a private/incognito window
• Alternatively, you may use a regular window, but you will need to clear your browsing history in addition to closing the web browser after each streaming
• Give the video a thumbs up and comment positively, but remain logged out while streaming
• Stream the music video on SMTown’s official YouTube channel, only. Do not stream re-uploaded videos.
• Stream the video in full, without skipping advertisements, using ad-blocking applications, pausing or fast-forwarding
• Keep the video volume above 50% (you may lower or mute your speaker volume)
• You may use several windows to stream multiple videos at once, but do not use multiple tabs within the same window or rely on playlists. If clearing the browsing history is not an issue, you may wish to use a combination of regular and incognito/private windows, for an added layer of security.
• After each streaming, close the private/incognito window - if using regular windows, you must clear your browsing history and close the web browser -, open a new one and repeat the process. Do not simply replay the video within the same window.

ㅡ Korean search engines:

• Search engines: Naver | Daum | Nate
• Search term: 엑소 (recommended!), EXO, members’ names.
• Use a private/incognito window to avoid having to clear yoru browser history after each search
• Perform a web search query and open one of the links that appears on the page
• Stay on the page for around two minutes and then close the window
• Open a new window and repeat the process

ㅡ Twitter, Instagram, Weibo, Facebook:

• Follow EXO’s official accounts
• Interact with them by retweeting, liking, sharing and commenting positively
• Use @weareoneEXO, #엑소, #EXO and #Universe in your tweets.

★ 6. Live Broadcast Real-Time SMS and Online Voting

Real-time SMS voting must be done during the live broadcast of the music shows, and only applies to the Top 3 nominees. The MCs will give a signal to viewers once it is time to start voting.

You may vote only once, per mobile number.

Free SMS options: SMSrr | TextFree: iOS - Android | Yahoo Messenger

ㅡ Mnet M! Countdown

Vote for EXO if they are in the Top 3 for the week. Only residents of South Korea are eligible to vote.

• Send EXO or 엑소 to 2336 (within South Korea) or vote online. The online voting is only available to CJ ONE members with an account linked to a Korean phone number. Duplcate voting trough SMS and online is not be possible for the same phone number.
• One vote per phone number
• A charge of 200 KRW (~0.17 USD) applies

ㅡ MBC Show! Music Core

Vote for EXO if they are in the Top 3 for the week

• Send EXO or 엑소 to +820505 or 00820505 (0505 within South Korea)
• International SMS charges apply, unless using the free option

★ 7. Viewer Committee (MBC Show! Champion)

Korean fans with an MBC ID may apply to join the 2000 member Viewer Committee (시청자위원회) [here].

★ 8. Broadcast Frequency (KBS Music Bank)

Certain television and radio programmes accept song requests, providing a direct way of influencing the broadcast frequency. By requesting EXO’s songs, those in Korea can increase the group’s ranking in this category, as well as their overall public exposure.

Credit: dailyexo.tumblr.com | Please contact DAILYEXO if you spot any errors or inaccuracies, or wish to share additional information. Reposting and use of this material to benefit other artists is strictly prohibited. If you wish to share this information, link the tutorial in preference to reposting, as the content is subject to frequent changes.