10CM's 'Reach You' Tops Charts 15 Years After Release, Thanks to Innovative Challenge Strategy

10CM's song 'Reach You' has swept the music charts 15 years after its initial release. Industry experts credit the innovative promotional strategy that expanded the concept of challenges beyond choreography, encouraging celebrities to participate through song.

Released on March 6, 'Reach You' by 10CM has claimed the top spot on the Melon TOP100 chart. As of 3 PM on the 14th, the song has surpassed other prominent artists like BLACKPINK's Jennie, G-Dragon, and WOODZ.

For 10CM fans, this achievement is particularly special. 'Reach You' was the song that first introduced 10CM to the public. According to Kwon Jung-yeol, the song was recorded during their early days to purchase a djembe, and it is a cover of a J-pop song from the Japanese anime 'Kimi ni Todoke.' Despite its popularity and frequent live performances over the years, official release was delayed due to copyright issues.

The song's resurgence owes much to broadcaster Joo Woo-jae. On February 23, Joo uploaded a short-form video covering the song's chorus alongside Kwon Jung-yeol playing guitar. The video garnered 950,000 views on Instagram alone. Joo later posted a full cover video on his YouTube channel, achieving 2.68 million views, more than double his subscriber count. Comments praised Joo's raw rendition for capturing the essence of the original.

Initially, the song was in the lower ranks of the Melon TOP100 chart until February 23. It climbed steadily, breaking into the top 10 by February 30, and reached number one on March 11, maintaining the top position for four consecutive days.

Not only Joo Woo-jae, but also artists like IVE's Rei, Davichi's Lee Hae-ri, and BoyNextDoor participated in the challenge. Since releasing 'Unchanging First Love' in May 2023, 10CM has overcome the challenge of creating dance-based challenges by uploading artist covers on their official account.

Davichi, also under CAM With Us, promoted their song 'Don't Call It Love' similarly. Videos of singers like Red Velvet's Wendy, MeloMance's Kim Min-seok, Roy Kim, and Lee Mu-jin, as well as non-singers like Song Eun-yi and Kim Sook, were uploaded to Davichi's official account.

Unlike Davichi, who did not participate directly, 10CM's challenge involved the original artist and the entire band, showcasing an evolved approach. They produced various videos, including full stage performances, artist-focused videos, and 10CM-focused videos, to increase exposure.

Industry insiders see 10CM and Davichi's efforts as breaking the mold of traditional challenges, which were mostly dance-centric and used original tracks. While comedians have previously created short-form covers for humor, it was rare for non-singers to join original artists in challenge videos.

An industry insider commented, "10CM's consistent efforts to create singer-songwriter-friendly challenges, combined with Joo Woo-jae's sincere voice, have led to this success."

By Min-kyung Lee, TenAsia Reporter 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr