“A2O LITE,” a rookie girl group produced by Lee Soo-man, key producer at A2O Entertainment, is drawing explosive popularity. Kakao, which has become a competitor through its acquisition of SM Entertainment, is also quietly smiling. This is because the group’s success can contribute to Melon’s “fandom-based strategy.”
According to iGAWorks Mobile Index on the 25th, Melon’s total usage time last month was 13.51 million hours, a 20.0% increase compared to the same month last year. The average usage time per user also rose by 19.0% over the same period to 117.92 minutes. Monthly Active Users (MAU) increased by 0.9% over the same period to 6.87 million.
The implementation of a “K-pop fandom-based strategy” proved effective. Rather than pursuing a strategy similar to that of global music platforms with massive capital revantage as being located in the birthplace of K-pop. Melon’s K-pop fandom strategy consists of the △Global-K Chart, △Stage 99, and △Music Wave Artist Chat
In June this year, Melon launched the “Global-K Chart,” a dedicated K-pop artist chart that aggregates usage data from three Na Ra-ui (CEO) music platforms: Korea (Melon), China (Tencent Music), and Japan (LINE Music). It reflects not only streaming figures but also activity metrics such as fan connections and likes. The strategy aims to keep users on Melon by activating competition among K-pop fandoms.
The MAU for the Global-K Chart in September last month was 3,011,516, a 45.5% increase compared to June (2,069,000). It is analyzed that this success in acquiring new users was driven by a sharp surge in overseas users. The overseas MAU for the Global-K Chart reached 2,564,133 in September last month, a 152% increase compared to its launch in June, accounting for 85% of total users.
“Stage 99,” an offline event that invites some of the most dedicated fans who have achieved “99 degrees,” the highest artist intimacy grade on Melon, to meet artists, also began in March last month. Intimacy is assigned by comprehensively analyzing activity patterns on Melon, such as streaming, downloads, likes, and voting. Since a pre-listening party for Day6 member Wonpil in April last month, Melon has held events including the release celebration for NCT WISH’s first full-length album “Ode to Love” in May last month, and the release celebration for BOYNEXTDOOR’s first full-length album “HOME” in June last month.
“Music Wave,” a service allowing multiple users to listen together and chat about music being played in real-time on a single channel, is also currently operating. Melon also runs an “Artist Chat Event” where fans and singers listen to new songs together and communicate
This year’s Artist Chat Events were held 115 times through September last month, a 1.4-fold increase compared to the same period last year (81 times). Girl group Lissen recorded the 7th highest number of simultaneous connections on Music Wave in history (excluding duplicate artists) with its Music Wave Live Chat Event on July 8 last month. This is the top ranking among girl groups. On the same day at 10 p.m., Lissen’s “Love Attack” climbed to No. 1 on Melon’s Top 100 chart.
For content platforms like Melon, usage time is as important as the number of users. This is because it serves as an indicator for gauging actual content consumption. Accumulated streaming data can also be used for song recommendation algorithms and AI sophistication. The longer platform usage time, the higher the advertising revenue.
An industry official said, “While Kakao is in a competitive relationship with A2O Entertainment due to its ownership of SM Entertainment, it is also a symbiotic relationship where activation of the idol ecosystem is necessary,” adding, “With the emergence of A2O LITE, competition among 5th-generation idols such as SM’s Heart2Hearts, HYBE’s ILLIT, and Starship’s KIKI is expected to intensify.”
