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Melon (online music service)

Melon is a South Korean online music store and music streaming service introduced in November 2004, and developed by SK Telecom. LOEN Entertainment (became Kakao M and then Kakao Entertainment) became the company-in-charge of the service in 2009. In 2017, Kakao merged Kakao Music into Melon to have one, unified music streaming service.[2]

Melon is South Korea's largest music subscription service, with over 28 million users. Melon is the most popular music streaming service in South Korea. In fact, a survey of users of smartphones found that they were the most used applications by Koreans.[3] Melon users can stream and download music and music videos and create custom ringtones.[4] Melon is available on Android and iOS.

The name "Melon" is a portmanteau of the phrase "melody on".[5]

History

Melon was founded on November 16, 2004, in South Korea by SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier. It attracted more than 10,000 subscribers per day on average, surpassing 310,000 on its first few months.[6] In October 2008, SK Telecom transferred the majority of Melon's stock to its shareholder Loen Entertainment for approximately 24.3 billion KRW.[7] In July 2013, SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, sold 52.56% of its stake in Loen Entertainment to Star Invest Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm.[8] Later in January 2016, Kakao acquired a 76.4% stake in the company for 1.87 trillion won (approximately $1.64 billion).[9][10] In 2018, Kakao M spun-off from Kakao, but Melon stayed.

In 2021, Melon merged with Kakao Entertainment and rebranded itself as "Melon M". This joint venue aimed to secure their leadership in the showbiz industry. Lee Jae-wook will lead the joint. At that time, the streaming platform boasted 33 million users and around 5 million paying users.[11]

International operations

In 2010, Melon was launched by SK Telecom in Indonesia, in partnership with Telkom Indonesia.[12] In 2016, Telkom Indonesia bought all the stake formerly owned by SK Telecom following the SK Telecom's divestment from all Melon businesses, thus making Melon Indonesia an Indonesian company.[13]

Promotions

Music programs on TV

Melon is the main sponsor of the following music-related shows:

  • Inkigayo (SBS, October 2010 – December 2016, re-sponsored since February 2017 - December 2023. Previously known as Popular Song and The Music Trend.)
  • Show! Music Core (MBC, August 2014 – March 2018)
  • Show Champion (MBC Music, January 2013 – May 2018)
  • You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook (KBS 2TV)
  • Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend (KBS 2TV)(February 2012 - 2021)
  • K-pop Star (SBS, all six seasons from 2011 to 2017)
  • Tribe of Hip Hop (JTBC)
  • King of Mask Singer (MBC, since June 2017)
  • MIXNINE (JTBC) (2017–2018)
  • Music Bank (KBS 2TV, since January 2020)

Melon Music Awards

In 2009, LOEN Entertainment launched the Melon Music Awards (MMA), an award-giving body dedicated to calculating digital sales and online votes to judge the winners.[15]

Achievements

Songs with the most weeks at number one

Longest charting songs on weekly chart

Most liked songs of all time

Most streamed artists of all time

All-time records

  • Most streamed artist: BTS (13.23B streams)[31]
  • Most streamed song: Lim Young-woong – "Trust in Me" (1.06B streams)
  • Song with most unique listeners: BTS – "Spring Day" (8.6M ULs)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on realtime chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden (2398 hours)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on daily chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - " Golden" (102 days)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on weekly chart: Aespa – "Supernova,[16] Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - Golden (15 weeks)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on monthly chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden" (4 months)
  • Longest-running Top 10 song on weekly chart: WOODZ – "Drowning" (51 weeks and counting)
  • Longest-running Top 10 song on yearly chart: Paul Kim – "Every Day, Every Moment",[49] BTS (feat. Halsey) – "Boy with Luv"[50] (2 years)
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on daily chart: BTS – "Spring Day [51]
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on weekly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (446 weeks)
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on yearly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (9 years)
  • Most roof-hit song: Zico – "Any Song" (51 roof-hits)[52]
  • Most unique listeners for a song in 1st 24 hours: IU – "Bbibbi" (1,462,625 ULs)[53]

Accolades

Melon, a leading music streaming service in South Korea, has achieved significant recognition over the years for its impact on the music industry and its innovative features. In 2011, it was honored as one of "Korea's Best 25 Apps" at the App Awards Korea, highlighting its popularity and user-friendly design.[54]

Melon was recognized at the 2012 Trusted Brand Awards.[55]

Melon won the "Grand Prize for Digital Contents" in the 2012 Korean Digital Management Innovation Awards.[56]

Melon was recognized in the 2012 Korea Brand Power Index.[57]

Ilgan Sports ranked Melon as the 3rd most influential entity in the K-pop industry in a November 2013 poll in celebration of its 44th anniversary.[58]

See also

External links

References

  1. Terms: GENERAL MelOn, LOEN Entertainment, Inc.^
  2. https://post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=9212950^
  3. 현익 박. https://biz.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2021/03/31/2021033100752.html ChosunBiz, April 23, 2021, retrieved May 1, 2021^
  4. South Korea's Biggest Music Subscription Service Acquired by Mobile Messaging Company Billboard, retrieved May 3, 2018^
  5. Seung Si-yeon, Park Jong-geun. Shin Won-soo, representing Korea's largest OMS, "MelOn" JoongAng Ilbo, December 3, 2011, retrieved January 22, 2014^
  6. Hyung-wook Yang. SK·LG텔 MP3음악포털 '대박'조짐 Financial News, December 14, 2004, retrieved March 19, 2023^
  7. Su-woong Chae. SK텔레콤, 음악사업 멜론 로엔으로 양도 Digital Daily, October 24, 2008, retrieved March 19, 2023^
  8. Min-ki Kim. SK플래닛, 로엔 지분 52% '2659억'에 매각 Newsis, July 18, 2013, retrieved March 19, 2023^
  9. Sang-sik Min. https://n.news.naver.com/article/016/0000966983 Herald Pop, January 12, 2016, retrieved March 19, 2023^
  10. Min-hyung Lee. Kakao angers music streaming fans – The Korea Times The Korea Times, August 14, 2017, retrieved March 19, 2023^
  11. Park Jun-hee. Kakao Entertainment to merge with music streaming platform Melon The Korea Herald, July 15, 2021, retrieved March 22, 2022^
  12. Melon Indonesia retrieved January 22, 2014^
  13. eck. MelOn kini 100% Merah Putih – Indotelko^
  14. Sbskpop X Inkigayo YouTube^
  15. An-woo Nam. https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=117&aid=0002046548 My Daily, November 9, 2009, retrieved April 4, 2023^
  16. Mi-kyung Seon. https://www.osen.co.kr/article/G1112409093 OSEN, September 2, 2024, retrieved September 2, 2024^
  17. https://www.melon.com/musicstory/inform.htm?mstorySeq=16564&expose=true^
  18. Byeong-gil Ahn. https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/144/0000909624 Sports Kyunghyang, August 29, 2023, retrieved May 8, 2024^
  19. Su-hyeon Lee. https://www.topstarnews.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=15175441 Top Star News, February 28, 2023, retrieved July 15, 2024^
  20. Seung-hee Koh. https://news.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20240109000769 Herald Economy, January 9, 2024, retrieved July 16, 2024^
  21. https://www.melon.com/chart/week/index.htm retrieved September 5, 2025^
  22. https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=672375#params%5BlistType%5D=A&params%5BorderBy%5D=POPULAR_SONG_LIST&params%5BartistId%5D=672375&po=pageObj&startIndex=1 Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  23. https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=712452#params%5BlistType%5D=A&params%5BorderBy%5D=POPULAR_SONG_LIST&params%5BartistId%5D=712452&po=pageObj&startIndex=1 Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  24. https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=261143#params%5BlistType%5D=A&params%5BorderBy%5D=POPULAR_SONG_LIST&params%5BartistId%5D=261143&po=pageObj&startIndex=1 Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  25. https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=772253#params%5BlistType%5D=A&params%5BorderBy%5D=POPULAR_SONG_LIST&params%5BartistId%5D=772253&po=pageObj&startIndex=1 Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  26. https://www.melon.com/artist/song.htm?artistId=752425#params%5BlistType%5D=A&params%5BorderBy%5D=POPULAR_SONG_LIST&params%5BartistId%5D=752425&po=pageObj&startIndex=1 Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  27. Anne-Marie Melon, retrieved December 9, 2024^
  28. DAY6 (데이식스) Melon, retrieved October 26, 2025^
  29. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=994944 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  30. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  31. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=672375 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  32. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  33. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=261143 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  34. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  35. Exo Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  36. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  37. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=861436 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  38. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  39. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=720018 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  40. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  41. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  42. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=792022 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  43. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  44. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=198094 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  45. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  46. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=236797 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  47. Most streamed artists on MelOn history: 11 March 2026, retrieved 11 March 2026^
  48. https://m2.melon.com/melonhall/sector/artist/detail.htm?artistId=236815 Melon, retrieved September 5, 2025^
  49. https://xn--o39an51b2re.com/melon/chart/weekly/record/30962526 retrieved April 3, 2023^
  50. https://xn--o39an51b2re.com/melon/chart/weekly/record/31737197 retrieved April 3, 2023^
  51. Jae-hoon Lee. https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20240813_0002848575 Newsis, August 13, 2024, retrieved August 13, 2024^
  52. https://xn--o39an51b2re.com/melon/summary/2020?q=7 retrieved February 3, 2021^
  53. https://xn--o39an51b2re.com/melon/chart/24count/20181011/18 retrieved February 8, 2021^
  54. 2011 App Awards Korea Melon, LOEN Entertainment, Inc.^
  55. 2012 Trusted Brand Awards Melon, LOEN Entertainment, Inc.^
  56. 2012 Korean Digital Management Innovation Awards Melon, LOEN Entertainment, Inc.^
  57. 2012 Korea Brand Power Index Melon, LOEN Entertainment, Inc.^
  58. Dong-jin Eom, Jin-seok Kim. http://isplus.live.joins.com/news/article/article.asp?total_id=12688626 Ilgan Sports, September 26, 2013, retrieved January 26, 2023^