Music Shows Beginner Guide

• They are weekly shows where K-Pop artists can promote and earn awards.

• They are a sign of hard work and fan support.

• Winners receive a trophy.

• Winners have articles written about them by K-Pop journalists.

• Wins get the attention of variety show producers.

• It is often the goal of many new artists.

• The Show

  • There is an attendance requirement, so we are only against other artists who are actively promoting.

  • Most groups from large companies do not attend this show anymore.

    • Note that there are some exceptions.

• Show Champion

  • Digitals has the lowest weight compared to other shows.

  • There is only a pre-vote, so it is convenient to every time zone.

  • Broadcast score is very predictable.

There are two methods for score calculation in music shows.

Relative Score Method

It is used for The Show, Show Champion, M Countdown, Music Core, and Inkigayo. It is also used to calculate the Music Bank pre-vote score. It calculates scores based on how they compare to the highest performer in a category that week.

Example:

Three total groups are promoting and got this amount of streams during the tracking week:

1. C Team - 1,583,290 streams

2. A Team - 893,108 streams

3. B Team - 552,019 streams

Since C Team has the highest number of streams this week, they will automatically receive a maximum score of 4,000 digitals points.

To find A team's score, divide their score (893,108) by C Team's score (1,583,290). Then, multiply that value by 4,000. In this case, their score will be 2,256.

Using the same method, B Team's score would be 1,394.

Market Share Method

It is used only by Music Bank, except for the pre-vote score. It calculates scores based on their streams/sales compared to all streams/sales done that week.

Example:

Three total groups are promoting and got this amount of sales during the tracking week:

1. C Team - 591,388 sales

2. A Team - 392,135 sales

3. B Team - 22,391 sales

If we assume these are the only three teams that are eligible, this means there was a total of 1,005,914 albums sold. 

To find C Team's score, divide their score (591,388) by the total (1,005,914). Then, multiply that value by the total points share, which is 10,000. In this case, their score will be 5,879.

Using the same method, A Team's score will be 3,898. B Team's score will be 222.

We use this information to strategize in a number of ways.

Firstly, we can predict whether a win is even possible.

• If we see that a group that gets millions of streams is promoting, we know that we can't win on shows that weigh streams heavily, like M Countdown, Show! Music Core, or Inkigayo.

• If we know an artist will appear on a KBS variety show (ex. Immortal Songs 2), we know that a win at Music Bank might be possible based on our performance in other categories.

• If we know that no major groups will be promoting on The Show that week, we know that there won't be as big of a barrier to winning as other shows.

Once we know where we can possibly win, we can make decisions about where we spend our time, money, and effort.

• If we know that a very popular group is promoting that week, and a win is, we know that our efforts are best focused on promotional opportunities instead of trying for a music show win.

• If a win is possible on more than one show, we can choose which to focus on based on how easy it is to win.