Streaming: Unlike voting which is centered around Korean Awards specifically Streaming is used across the world in both Korean and International Charts. Because there are many charts across the world, with different rules, we will focus on Korean and United States streaming. For specific streaming information in your own country please refer to your local Fanbase.

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United States: In the United States, there are multiple platforms to stream from: YouTube, Spotify Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google Play, Pandora, etc. Some platforms are only paid, others offer an ad-service streaming, and others contain programmed streams. If an account used to stream the music is free with ads (i.e. Regular Spotify Account), it will typically have less influence than a paid account (i.e. Spotify Premium) on the charts, both types of streaming have more influenced then programmed streaming (i.e. Pandora) because you cannot choose which songs you are playing. This however, does NOT mean that streaming on free accounts are worth nothing. Typically, in the first week of charting a majority of the streams comes from YouTube and Free Spotify, unless the song was placed in a high streaming playlist, meaning your streaming efforts do have a major impact. YouTube is commonly the best focus in terms of streaming because it makes up a large proportion of BTS streams in the beginning, and because it also has impact on some Korean Music Show, Korean Award Shows, and International Award Shows. The second most used streaming site is Spotify which is typically focused by US-ARMYs for Billboard, however I-ARMYs may also support BTS here, as it allows their songs to qualify for large playlists. When a song is added onto a playlist such as "Global Top 50" it allows BTS to be exposed to more people and increases the stream counts from people who would not typically listen to BTS. All streaming sites also provide some sort of revenue to BTS depending on how much is streamed.

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On Billboard 100, paid users streams count as 1 point, ad-service users count as 2/3 of a point, and programmed user count as 1/2 a point.

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On Billboard 200, streaming is counted under Stream Equivalent Albums (SEA). For SEA, paid users need 1,250 streams to count for 1 album. Ad-service streaming need 3,750 streams to count for 1 album.

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Korea: Korea has a lot of different K-Streaming Apps which all have their own rules on how a song is able to chart. To simplify, most Apps have their own way of how downloads and streams impact their charts. Most streaming Apps give priorities to downloads, such as MelOn where where the scale is 60% download and 40% streaming, while other services, like Genie, are 50% download and 50% streaming. These charts then give their chart design to larger charts which are used during comeback (iCharts) and End of the Year charts (Gaon).

 

iCharts, which is a cumulative chart that determines how well a song is doing, receive their data from MelOn, Genie, Bugs, Soribada, and Flo. iChart notes down the individual ranking of each of these charts, in which the target is to maintain first place. Having first place for an hour in all charts is deemed an "All-Kill", maintaining it for a whole day is deemed "Certified All-Kill", and maintaining it for a week is a "Perfect All-Kill".

 

Music Shows mainly use MelOn, Genie, Bugs, Mnet, and Soribada as part of their criteria. The service which each specific Music Show tracks is listed in the Criteria Guide Poster above.

 

The last main chart that is used is for End of the Year Awards (Gaon). The three K-Apps that influence Gaon are: MelOn, Genie, and Naver. MelOn has a 90% impact on Gaon Charts, Genie and Naver have 8% impact on Gaon Charts, and the 2% are from other K-Apps.

 

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Radio: Radio play is another free method which can greatly help BTS, particularly in the US.  Methods which can support BTS on the radio is through requesting on Social Media (like Twitter #MostRequestedLive)  or requesting on the radio itself (by calling them or asking a request on their website).  The influence depends on the audience size, so well known radios are preferred. But if you know a BTS song is playing, coming in to listen to the radio can also help. 

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Purchasing: Purchasing songs and albums have two different categories: Physical and Digitals. In the lens of charts, purchasing albums and songs is closely related to streaming, however it is still a different method to support BTS. As mentioned above, there are multiple charts worldwide, so it's best to seek answers in your local fanbase for more information.

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Korea: All Physical albums which are produced in Korea and sold are counted on Gaon. Any albums that are returned is later subtracted from the chart, so Gaon charts for albums are typically used for End of the Year Awards. On the other hand, the other chart, Hanteo, only counts albums which are bought from certified stores. Most stores which are certified will state it on their sites but some of the commonly used stores are: Weply, Ktown4U, YesAsia, and Kpop Mart. Click here to see the full list of stores which are certified for Hanteo. [Note: The stores must be certified Silver or higher to be verified, Bronze are not verified].

 

For digital albums, these are essentially the downloads mentioned in streaming above.

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United States: In the US, for physical albums to qualify for Billboard, it will need to qualify for Nielsen Music (Soundscan). Nielsen is registered in most chain venues like Walmart and Target. For venues to count they must register with Nielsen and be in business for over 2 years. Albums which are sold 50% off or more (the manufacture price), however will NOT count for the charts. Albums that are also sold in bundles where the consumer is not able to purchase the items without the albums are also NOT counted.  

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For digital albums, they are usually purchased on platforms like iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, etc.  These platforms will usually give the ability to purchase  the songs separately or purchase the entire album. Purchasing the entire album will count for Billboard 200, while the individual tracks will count for  Billboard 100. When an album (like Persona) has less than 10 tracks, purchasing the album won't count as a full album on Billboard 200 (i.e. Persona has 7 tracks so it only counts as 70% of an album).

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For Billboard 200, purchasing digital tracks is counted as Track Equivalent Albums (TEA) where 10 Digital sales count as 1 album.

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For the most impact (only if you have the ability) we recommend you purchase each song individually.  Purchasing the title track and then clicking "Complete the Album" will only count for Billboard 200 not 100. 

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Counting for Korean Charts & Billboards: For this to count, the album MUST be produced in Korea, registered by Nielsen Music, and then sent to a US address.

Note: All official albums sold in the US are produced in Korea, so they all count for Gaon. However BigHit's Shop (now called Weply) is the only store which is registered in the Hanteo's system. Walmart and Target claim to count for Hanteo, however unless we know their suppliers, there is no official confirmation that it counts for Hanteo.