How the seven music shows pick their #1
A trophy is a weighted score of one week's digital and album sales, airplay, video views and fan votes. The weights differ from show to show and change every year or two; this is where they stand today.
Updated Source: broadcasters, Wikipedia, Korean press
| Category |  Mon |  Tue |  Wed |  Thu |  Fri |  Sat |  Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | 40 % | 40 % | 35 % | 50 % | 80 % | 50 % | 50 % |
| Album | 10 % | 20 % | 15 % | 15 % | 5 % | 10 % | 10 % |
| Broadcast | 10 % | – | 20 % | 10 % | – | 5 % | 10 % |
| Video & social | 10 % | 20 % | 10 % | 15 % | 5 % | 10 % | 20 % |
| Pre-vote | 15 % | 20 % | 20 % | 10 % | 10 % | 10 % | 5 % |
| Live vote | 15 % | 20 % | – | 10 % | – | 10 % | 5 % |
| Other | – | – | – | – | – | 5 % | – |
| Perfect score | unpublished | unpublished | unpublished | 11,000 | no cap | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Win limit per song | not stated | not stated | 3 wins | 3 wins | none | 3 wins | 3 wins |
| Formula since | Oct 2026 | Jun 2026 | Jul 2021 | Jan 2024 | Jan 2023 | May 2026 | Oct 2024 |
Per cent of the total score. "Pre-vote" covers app votes cast before the broadcast (Fancast, Mubeat, Idol Champ, LiNC, Mnet Plus, BIGC), "live vote" the vote between the nominees during the show. M Countdown and The Show add their live vote on top of a 100 % pre-tally, so their columns sum to 110 and 120; that is why M Countdown's perfect score is 11,000. The Show's "Video & social" cell is its fan engagement score, computed from the artists' official YouTube and social accounts rather than video views.
Show by show
The full formula, its cap, how voting works, how often one song may win, and what changed when.
How Show K-Pop picks its #1Digital 40 % · Physical album 10 % · SNS 10 % · … · since October 2026
- 40 %Digital (global streaming)
- 10 %Physical album (global)
- 10 %SNS (social media)
- 10 %Broadcast
- 15 %Pre-vote (Mubeat)
- 15 %Live vote (Mubeat) – top two nominees only
Changes
- 2026-10-19: premiere on Arirang TV – digital 40, album 10, SNS 10, broadcast 10, pre-vote 15, plus a 15 % live vote between the top two.
- Formula since
- October 2026
- Perfect score
- Unpublished
- Voting
- Pre-vote on Mubeat before the broadcast (the show announces the voting window each week); the two highest-scoring candidates then go into a live vote on Mubeat during the Monday show.
- Win limit
- Not stated by the broadcaster.
- Not confirmed
- Which charts and platforms feed the digital, album, SNS and broadcast scores has not been published. The maximum score (the first winner's digital score of 4,000 suggests a 10,000 scale) and whether a song retires after several wins.
How The Show picks its #1Digital 40 % · Physical album 20 % · Fan engagement score 20 % · … · since June 2026
- 40 %Digital (global streaming charts)
- 20 %Physical album
- 20 %Fan engagement score (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram social data)
- 20 %Global pre-vote (BIGC)
- 20 %Live vote (BIGC) – added on top of the 100 % pre-tally
Changes
- 2021-03: pre-vote 5 %, live vote 10 %, then broadcast, digital (Gaon), album (Hanteo), judges and YouTube views at 15 % each; perfect score 10,000.
- 2026-06-02: relaunch under BIGC on SBS LIFE – digital 40, album 20, fan engagement score 20, pre-vote 20, plus a 20 % live vote on top; broadcast, judges and video views dropped; voting moves to BIGC.
- Formula since
- June 2026
- Perfect score
- Unpublished
- Voting
- Pre-vote on the BIGC app and website from Friday 17:00 to Monday 10:00 KST; live vote for the three nominees on Tuesday from 18:05 to 18:50 KST, also on BIGC (Star Planet 2021–2025, Starplay before that).
- Win limit
- Not stated by the broadcaster.
- Not confirmed
- The maximum score and which streaming charts feed the digital score have not been published. Whether a song retires after three wins.
How Show Champion picks its #1Digital sales 35 % · Broadcast 20 % · Fan vote 20 % · … · since July 2021
- 35 %Digital sales (Melon, Bugs, Genie, Flo)
- 20 %Broadcast
- 20 %Fan vote (Idol Champ)
- 15 %Physical album (Hanteo)
- 10 %Music video views (YouTube)
Changes
- 2020-02-12: digital and physical weights adjusted.
- 2021-07-14: current 35 / 20 / 20 / 15 / 10 formula; scores shown on air for the first time.
- Formula since
- July 2021
- Perfect score
- Unpublished
- Voting
- Idol Champ app, Friday to Monday; the chart tracks Monday to Sunday.
- Win limit
- Triple crown: a song leaves the chart after three wins, consecutive or not (since 2015).
- Not confirmed
- A stated maximum score (the components imply 10,000).
How M Countdown picks its #1Digital sales 50 % · Physical album 15 % · Global social media 15 % · … · since January 2024
- 50 %Digital sales (Circle Global K-pop Chart)
- 15 %Physical album (Circle Album Chart)
- 15 %Global social media (YouTube music video, short-form video)
- 10 %Mnet broadcast
- 10 %Global pre-vote (Mnet Plus)
- 10 %Live vote (Mnet Plus) – added on top of the 100 % pre-tally
Changes
- 2020-05-28: digital cut to 45 %, global fan vote and social weights raised.
- 2022-04-14: digital 50, album 15, social 10, global fan vote 15, broadcast 10, plus a 10 % live vote on top.
- 2024-01: social 10 → 15 with short-form video added, global fan vote 15 → 10; digital moves to the Circle Global K-pop Chart.
- Formula since
- January 2024
- Perfect score
- 11,000 points
- Voting
- Mnet Plus app: a global pre-vote from Saturday 00:00 to Monday 23:59 KST, then a live vote between the two first-place nominees during the Thursday broadcast.
- Win limit
- Triple crown: a song can win three times, then leaves the chart.
- Not confirmed
- English Wikipedia's articles disagree with each other (one lists the social score at 10 %, another digital at 60 % with a 12,000 maximum); the weights here follow the Korean Namu wiki, which matches the 11,000 maximum and the highest scores seen since 2024.
How Music Bank picks its #1Digital sales 60 % · KBS broadcast plays 20 % · K-pop fan voting 10 % · … · since January 2023
- 60 %Digital sales (Melon, Bugs, Genie, Vibe, Flo)
- 20 %KBS broadcast plays (TV, radio, digital channels)
- 10 %K-pop fan voting (Fancast)
- 5 %Physical album (Circle)
- 5 %Social media (YouTube, TikTok via Circle)
Changes
- 2022-02-25: a 10 % viewers' choice vote added; digital 60, broadcast 20, album 5, social 5.
- 2023-01-06: the vote moves to Mubeat's K-pop fan voting; broadcast score extended to KBS digital channels.
- 2024-05-31: the vote moves to the ALLCHART app; a fan-voted BPM (Best Performance Musician) award is added.
- 2025-08-29: the vote moves to the Fancast app.
- Formula since
- January 2023
- Perfect score
- No fixed maximum
- Voting
- Global pre-vote on the Fancast app from Monday 11:00 to Wednesday 11:00 KST; there is no live vote. The vote ran on Mubeat until May 2024 and on ALLCHART from 31 May 2024 to August 2025.
- Win limit
- None – a song can win any number of times.
- Not confirmed
- The exact start time: Wikipedia lists 17:15, some schedules 17:00.
How Show! Music Core picks its #1Digital sales 50 % · Physical album 10 % · Music video views 10 % · … · since May 2026
- 50 %Digital sales
- 10 %Physical album
- 10 %Music video views
- 10 %Global pre-vote (Mubeat, MUNIVERSE)
- 6 %Live vote – global app
- 4 %Live vote – text message
- 5 %Broadcast
- 5 %Viewer committee
Changes
- 2021-06-05: digital 50, album 10, video 10, broadcast 10, viewer committee 5, pre-vote 5, live vote 10.
- 2024-04-13: win limit cut from five to three.
- 2026-05-30: broadcast 10 → 5; pre-vote becomes a 10 % global vote on Mubeat and MUNIVERSE; live vote split into 6 % app and 4 % text.
- Formula since
- May 2026
- Perfect score
- 10,000 points
- Voting
- Pre-vote on Mubeat and, since May 2026, MUNIVERSE (roughly Tuesday to Thursday); live vote for the three nominees during the show via app and text message.
- Win limit
- Triple crown since 13 April 2024: a song leaves the chart after three wins (from February 2021 to April 2024 the limit was five).
- Not confirmed
- The start time: MBC's own listings say 15:15, other sources 15:20 or 15:30. The May 2026 weights come from the Korean Namu wiki; English Wikipedia had not yet recorded the change.
How Inkigayo picks its #1Digital sales 50 % · Video views and social 20 % · Physical album 10 % · … · since October 2024
- 50 %Digital sales (Melon, Genie, Flo, Circle Global K-pop Chart)
- 20 %Video views and social (YouTube)
- 10 %Physical album (Circle Album Chart)
- 10 %On-air (SBS TV and radio)
- 5 %Pre-vote
- 5 %Live vote
Changes
- 2021-01-24: pre-vote and live vote both counted; digital 5,500, YouTube 3,000, album 1,000, on-air 1,000 points – perfect score 11,000.
- 2024-10-06: digital 5,500 → 5,000 and YouTube 3,000 → 2,000 points; Circle Global K-pop Chart and global platforms added.
- 2025-04-07: the global pre-vote moves from Diggus to LiNC.
- Formula since
- October 2024
- Perfect score
- 10,000 points
- Voting
- Global pre-vote from Sunday 00:00 to Saturday 23:59 KST on the LiNC app (Diggus from May 2024 to March 2025, Idol Plus before); live vote for the nominees during the broadcast on the Higher app (since August 2024, Starpass before).
- Win limit
- Triple crown: after three first-place wins a song leaves the chart. OSTs and audition-show songs are not eligible.
- Not confirmed
- The start time: the 2026 winners list says 15:20, the Korean Namu wiki 15:40.
What a win measures
Every show ranks the songs released or promoted in its chart week and hands one trophy to the top of that ranking. Sales and streaming are counted from the Korean charts each broadcaster licenses (Circle, Melon, Genie, Flo, Hanteo), airplay only from the broadcaster's own channels, and votes from the app it partners with. A trophy therefore says: this week, on this network's mix, this song came first.
That is why a song can sweep a week or win nothing at all, why the same week can have seven different winners, and why a run of trophies ends when a show retires the song after its third win. The records pages count trophies exactly as awarded; nothing is weighted or adjusted between shows.
Quick answers
- What is a triple crown in K-pop?
- A song wins first place three times on one show, usually in three consecutive weeks. On Inkigayo, M Countdown, Show Champion and (since April 2024) Music Core the song then leaves the chart; Music Bank has no limit. Korean press counts total trophies separately as N관왕 (3관왕, 4관왕). Korean: 트리플 크라운.
- What is a grand slam in K-pop?
- One song wins first place on every weekly music show. On this site that means the six long-running ones; Show K-Pop (since October 2026) does not count yet. Some outlets count five and leave out The Show. Korean: 그랜드 슬램 / 음방 올킬.
- What is a clean sweep in K-pop?
- One song takes every trophy awarded in a single broadcast week (Monday to Sunday; Tuesday to Sunday before Show K-Pop). On this site a sweep needs at least four trophies, so a week with only two shows on air does not count.
- What is a first win in K-pop?
- An artist's first-ever number-one trophy on any music show, usually marked with an encore stage – a career milestone regardless of the show. Korean: 첫 1위.
- What is a all-kill in K-pop?
- A chart term, not a music-show win: #1 on all of Instiz iChart's real-time charts (real-time all-kill), plus the daily charts (certified all-kill), plus the weekly component (perfect all-kill). Korean: 올킬 / 퍼펙트 올킬.
- Which music show is the hardest to win?
- There is no single answer: Music Bank leans on digital sales and KBS airplay with no fan vote during the show, M Countdown and Music Core give fan votes a fifth of the score, Inkigayo weights YouTube heavily. A song that streams well tends to win Music Bank; a song with a mobilised fandom does better where votes count.
- Why do points differ so much between shows?
- Each show has its own maximum – 10,000 on Inkigayo and Music Core, 11,000 on M Countdown, none on Music Bank, where weekly totals pass 10,000 routinely – and the maxima have changed over the years. Points are comparable within a show and a season, not across shows.
- Does a #1 on a music show mean the song topped the charts?
- Not necessarily. A trophy combines sales, airplay, video views and votes for one week on one broadcaster; the Circle Chart or Melon's weekly chart measure something else. Chart terms like all-kill describe those charts, not the shows.
More music show pages
Records