KPOP Charts

How the charts work

KPOP MAGAZINE 50 measures absolute increases in public YouTube view counts for editorially selected, verified official K-pop music videos. It is an independent selection, not a YouTube-endorsed chart or a measure of all music consumption.

Daily and weekly

Daily Top 50 uses a complete 24-hour observation window. Weekly Top 50 uses seven complete days and is published after the Monday collection. Both use the same daily collection, targeted at 06:00 KST. Actual observation timestamps are recorded; endpoints must be within ten minutes of the target and at least 24 or 168 hours apart. If collection is delayed, we attempt recovery later on the same KST date. A recovery edition compares the actual observations from consecutive daily collection dates (or the two Monday dates for weekly editions), shows its actual time span, and is explicitly labelled RECOVERY EDITION / observed-period growth. It is not presented as a standard 24-hour ranking; the next day may also need a recovery edition while the schedule returns to 06:00. Weekly recovery still requires at least 168 hours. Missing endpoint dates cannot be substituted. We never estimate, backdate, interpolate or rescale counts. Standard rankings resume when both endpoints meet the usual requirements.

Candidate source and scope

Our primary starting point is the KPOP MAGAZINE Release Calendar, supported by verified official release sources. We also consult r/kpop monthly release lists and documented reader submissions to find omissions. Each song must be linked to its confirmed release and checked against the official full MV, uploader and first publication date. A Calendar entry or community listing alone does not establish eligibility; these sources may contain omissions. No Reddit listing is required for a verified Calendar candidate.

The working target is approximately 100 candidates, not a cap. Every verified eligible candidate is retained in the pool, including candidates beyond 100. No popularity threshold, label quota or editorial-favorite quota applies. Teasers, Shorts, audio-only uploads and duplicates are excluded. Live performances, dance practices and visualizers do not qualify as official full MVs.

View candidate sources, registration dates, review decisions and submit an omission →

Selection and ranking

Only editorially verified official full music videos qualify. Eligibility lasts 180 KST calendar days, counting the first official full-MV publication date as day one. Music release dates do not set this window. A song expires at 00:00 KST on day 181, regardless of rank, with no extensions or re-entry after expiry. One canonical video represents each song; reuploads and alternate versions cannot restart eligibility. Eligibility is evaluated at each edition’s closing date. This 180-day rule is separate from the retention periods below. Videos need complete measurements before admission to an edition. Rank is determined by the increase in views, not percentage growth, lifetime views, likes, comments or a weighted score. Ties are resolved by normalized artist name, song title, then video ID. Up to 50 qualifying entries are published; empty positions are never filled with estimates.

Corrections and availability

Missing or private videos, mismatched channels, invalid statistics and conflicting observations require review. If valid public view counts decrease during a measurement period, that video is excluded from that edition and listed with its reason. No cause is inferred and no negative or estimated growth is ranked. The video remains under observation and can return when a subsequent comparison period contains non-decreasing counts. This does not extend the 180-day eligibility limit. Failed collection leaves the previous valid edition visible with its original measurement date. Published values are observed public statistics, which YouTube may subsequently revise. Collection does not distinguish organic views from advertising-driven views.

Retention and history

Raw view-count observations and collection run records are retained for up to 30 days. Published Daily and Weekly editions, including rankings and independently calculated view increases, are retained for up to 36 calendar months from publication under the additional derived-metrics terms. Other API metadata remains subject to 30-day refresh or deletion, and shorter applicable deletion requirements take precedence. The longer archive does not restore previously deleted editions. Peak and appearance counts continue to describe the preceding 30 days of editions at publication, not all-time records. No private account data or YouTube login is required from visitors.

Data source: YouTube Data API v3. YouTube Terms of Service · Privacy