Korean Streaming

Supporting Stray Kids on Korean platforms plays a critical role in their success on domestic charts, music shows, and award eligibility. While navigating Korean streaming apps can be challenging for international fans, especially due to language barriers and account requirements, your effort does make a difference.

This section is dedicated to helping STAYs around the world understand how to use Korean streaming platforms such as Melon, Genie, Bugs, and Flo. Whether you're new to Korean apps or looking to improve your streaming efficiency, you'll find step-by-step guides, tutorials, and best practices tailored to maximize your impact.

Even one stream can contribute to Stray Kids’ chart rankings and visibility in Korea—so thank you for taking the time to learn and support them in this way.

Why are Digitals so Important?

Digitals have the biggest percentage contribution in music shows, with an average of 50%. South Korean digital streaming platforms such as Melon, FLO, Genie, and Bugs are crucial to the success of K-pop groups for several reasons:

Chart rankings: Streaming data from these platforms is used to compile the weekly music charts in South Korea, such as the Circle Chart and Hanteo Chart. High chart rankings are important for the visibility and reputation of K-pop groups, as they indicate popularity and success, which can lead to more opportunities for Stray Kids.
End-of-year nominations: Chart rankings are also used in nominations for significant and notable awards in South Korea.
Sales revenue: Streaming is also a significant source of revenue for K-pop groups, as they earn royalties for each stream. Digital sales, including streaming and downloads, accounted for over 90% of the music industry's revenue in South Korea in 2020.
Fan engagement: Streaming platforms provide K-pop fans with a convenient way to access and support their favorite groups' music. Fans can create playlists, share music on social media, and participate in streaming campaigns to boost chart rankings.
Global impact: The success of K-pop groups on South Korean streaming platforms can have a ripple effect on their popularity and success in other countries. For example, high chart rankings in South Korea can attract attention from international media and fans, leading to increased exposure and opportunities for the group.

Overall, the importance of South Korean digital streaming platforms is evident in the way they directly impact music shows wins. Charts and music show wins increase brand exposure and can provide additional opportunities for Stay Kids and individual members.

STAYs are also aware through the variety of interactions we have with the members as well as behind-the-scenes content that The Kids do check these charts and rankings to see the direct impact of their hard work right there at home.

Each K-streaming platform has its own chart ranking Artist, Albums, & Songs in real time, Daily, Weekly & Monthly! The information below shows an overview for the tracking for each. You can find a link to each platforms specific charts in their designated sections.

REAL TIME CHART
Hourly - Counts 1 unique listener per hour
Chart freezes from 1am-7am, but streams during this time still count for the next chart update

DAILY CHART
24 hours - Updates at midnight KST

WEEKLY CHART
7 days - Updates on Mondays

MONTHLY CHART
1 month - Updates 1st Monday of the month

Having an understanding of how K-charts work helps us ensure we understand where we need to direct our energy. For example, we know that 4 out of the 5 music shows Stray Kids promote on use Circle Chart to track the data they apply to their scoring systems. We also know that Circle Charts are weighed heavily in favor of DOWNLOADS, so if Stray Kids have a Friday release, the fastest & most productive way for STAYs to chart Stray Kids high enough to boost their digital points for the 1st week of promotions & increase their chances at winning music shows would be to push MASS downloading on K-platforms on as many accounts as possible!

This is just one example and is in no way a strategy. Always follow our fanbases for any strategies or scheduled mass purchases, downloads, or votings.

KEY TERMS TO KNOW WHEN TALKING ABOUT K-STREAMING

UNIQUE STREAMS - number of times a song is played by a unique account during the tracking period (hourly, daily, etc.)
TOTAL STREAMS - number of times a song has been played (doesn't matter if it's the same account multiple times) during the tracking period
DOWNLOADS - number of downloads by unique accounts
UNIQUE LISTENERS - number of unique accounts that played a song (counted only ONCE per account)
Charts count the unique listeners & downloads over the tracking period. Only 1 DL is counted per account and 1 unique listener per tracking period (playing the same song 2x in 1 hour → only 1 count for real time chart; however, total streams add to the overall digital score).
UNVERIFIED Accounts - can no longer be created, though if you have accounts made pre-2021, they can still be used for streaming and loaded with passes! These accounts can’t do downloads; for that, verification is required. There are some sellers who will verify existing accounts, but if you really want a verified account, buying a new one might be recommended, since it’s less expensive.
VERIFIED Accounts - are required for downloading. These accounts can be used for streaming and downloading, and can be loaded with streaming passes as well as Genie Cash to download songs!

Korean streaming platforms are music apps and websites used mainly in South Korea to listen to songs. These platforms are important because they count toward Korean music charts, like Melon, Circle (formerly Gaon), and music show wins (such as Inkigayo, M Countdown, Music Bank, etc.).

Click on any platform icon to access a dedicated section with detailed information, including account setup guides, curated playlists, charting impact, streaming tips, and more.

Shops

Some STAYs will need assistance or a third party to help them rent, purchase, verify, and/or load their K-platform accounts with streaming passes and funds for downloads. Here are a few shops that can help!

DELSHOP

Purchase streaming passes, Rent a streaming account, Buy verified accounts
Order via Twitter DMs or Message them through KKT; you can also check their linktree for other ordering options.
Accepts payments via PayPal, Wise, & local bank only (INA)

WHY DO WE RECOMMEND USING DELSHOP?

Their fees are very reasonable and in order to make our brand new guides for all platforms we wanted to start from literally step 1 and go through the entire process for STAY so we purchased brand new team accounts from them within 20 mins our team had all accounts and were able to start. We are truly grateful for their service.

Check out Delshop's Pricing below.

QUEN (SKZWDZCART)

Purchase streaming passes, Rent a streaming account, Buy verified accounts
Their ordering process varies, it's best to check their twitter account for updates.
Accepts payments via PayPal & GCash

This is the account that our fandom has used for several comebacks to rent their accounts, purchase streaming passes and load funds onto accounts. The do a slight discount for STAYs preparing K-Streaming accounts just before a Stray Kids Comeback. But their is a wait and their processing time should be taken into account when renting from them.

Check out SKZWDZCART's Pricing Below.

ABOUT DOWNLOADING VIA APK

For the best APK Downloading experience, start by Downloading the APKPure App.

This is an APK Reader App that you can use to search for the Apps that you want to download, and it will also help you install and launch the App on your device.

DOWNLOAD AN APK READER

Android users can use APK files to Download and use Apps that they don’t immediately have access to via their Google Play Store account.

How to create a Korean Google & Apple ID

To be able to Download Korean Music Streaming Apps like Melon, BUGS, and FLO on mobile devices, you need access either the the Korean Google Play Store or Korean App Site for Apple. To do this with an existing Google (Gmail) Account or Apple ID, you’ll need to Add a Korean Payment Profile to your account. Follow the instructions based on your device to easily add it to your account . Try not to use your Main Google Account or Apple ID; it's best to use a secondary account account when setting up a Korean Payment Profile for ISTAYs instead.