This image, provided by Big Hit Music, shows BTS at the concert titled “Yet To Come in Busan” at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium on Oct. 15, 2022.
SEOUL, July 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Billboard, the U.S. music chart operator, has decided to exclude artist webstores from the tabulation of digital single charts, raising doubts about whether this decision is aimed at preventing K-pop singers from reaching the top.
Billboard recently announced that it would no longer include D2C (Direct-to-consumer) websites in chart calculations.
D2C websites refer to artists’ official online stores where they sell their own albums and music instead of using platforms like iTunes and Amazon Music, which include multiple artists.
These webstores served as a channel for artists to join the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart by selling digital singles at a cheap price, usually less than US$1.
Major K-pop stars, including BTS, BLACKPINK, and Seventeen, operate their own artist webstores in the U.S.
Billboard’s decision to exclude artist webstores from chart calculations can be seen as an attempt to create a barrier against K-pop artists, as these webstores are one of the main channels for digital downloads.
“Billboard’s latest decision indicates that it does not want the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 chart to be achieved solely through fandom downloads, especially considering that the U.S. music market is currently dominated by streaming,” said music critic Kim Do-heon.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
