Global-K Chart: Melon, Tencent Music and Line Music to Launch New Unified K-Pop Chart
A new pan-Asian K-pop chart is set to launch in June, bringing together streaming and fan engagement data from some of Asia’s biggest music platforms.
Kakao Entertainment’s Melon, China’s Tencent Music Entertainment, and Japan’s Line Music are joining forces to launch the Global-K Chart, a new ranking designed to measure K-pop popularity across South Korea, China, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia.
The chart will combine data from Melon in South Korea, Tencent Music’s platforms across China and Southeast Asia, and Line Music in Japan. The aim is to create a broader view of K-pop performance across key Asian markets, rather than relying on country-by-country rankings.
What is the Global-K Chart?
The Global-K Chart is a new K-pop ranking system that will pool streaming and engagement data from multiple major music services.
Instead of only tracking performance in one market, the chart will bring together activity from several of the most important countries for K-pop consumption. That includes South Korea, where Melon remains one of the country’s most influential music platforms, Japan through Line Music, and China through Tencent Music Entertainment.
Tencent Music operates major platforms including QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and JOOX, giving the new chart access to a significant audience across China and Southeast Asia. Line Music also has a strong position in Japan, where K-pop continues to have a large and highly active fanbase.
Why the Global-K Chart matters for K-pop
K-pop has become one of the most globalised parts of the modern music industry, but chart data is still often split across different territories and platforms.
The Global-K Chart could help create a more unified picture of which K-pop artists and songs are performing best across Asia. That matters because South Korea, Japan and China are all major markets for K-pop, but each has its own streaming platforms, fan behaviour and chart systems.
By combining these markets into one chart, the Global-K Chart may become a useful new benchmark for labels, artists, managers and fans looking to understand regional K-pop momentum.
For artists, this could create another visible measure of success outside of existing domestic charts and global rankings. For labels and distributors, it could offer better insight into where an artist is gaining traction and how fan engagement differs across Asian markets.
From K-pop Artist Chart to Global-K Chart
The project was first announced after Kakao Entertainment signed separate agreements with Tencent Music and Line Music in December 2025.
At the time, the chart was referred to as the K-pop Artist Chart, but it has now been officially named the Global-K Chart.
The new name gives the project a broader identity and positions it as more than just another domestic K-pop ranking. It suggests the companies involved want the chart to become a recognised standard for measuring K-pop’s regional and global reach.
A bigger push for Asian music data
The launch of the Global-K Chart also comes as more Asian music data is being integrated into global music industry measurement systems.
K-pop has long had a massive international audience, but some key Asian markets have historically been harder to reflect accurately in global chart data. China, in particular, has often sat outside many Western-focused music data systems despite having a huge digital music audience.
More partnerships between local streaming services and global data companies are starting to change that.
For the music industry, this is important. Better data from Asia gives labels, artists and platforms a clearer understanding of real fan demand. It also helps show the commercial power of Asian music markets, especially as K-pop, J-pop and C-pop continue to grow internationally.
What happens next?
The Global-K Chart is expected to launch in June.
Melon is also planning promotional activity around the launch, including artist messages and fan-focused events across its platform and social channels.
For K-pop fans, the new chart could become another way to track the biggest artists and releases across Asia. For the wider industry, it may become a useful signal of where K-pop is gaining momentum beyond South Korea.
With Melon, Tencent Music and Line Music all involved, the Global-K Chart has the potential to become one of the most important new K-pop rankings in Asia.