MUSIC
Kim Sejeong Tops September's TENASIA Artist Top Ten K-Pop Girl Brand Rankings
In September, TENASIA conducted a global voting service, dividing the categories into K-Pop Boy Brand, K-Pop Girl Brand, and Hot Genre Brand.
Singer Kim Sejeong claimed the top spot in the K-Pop Girl Brand category. Debuting in 2016 with the girl group I.O.I, Kim Sejeong later transitioned to a solo career, releasing hits like 'Flower Way(꽃길)' and 'Warning.' She has also been active in musicals and theater. Recently, Kim Sejeong announced her role in the upcoming MBC drama 'Moon River,' where she will star alongside Kang Tae-oh.
Hearts2Hearts secured the second position. The eight-member group debuted on February 24 and is the first girl group introduced by SM Entertainment in five years since aespa. Their debut single 'The Chase' surpassed 400,000 copies in initial sales, setting a record for the highest debut album sales for a girl group. Hearts2Hearts is set to make a comeback next month and has pre-released the track 'Pretty Please.'
BLACKPINK took third place. The group is currently on their 'DEADLINE' world tour, visiting 16 cities worldwide. Their track 'JUMP' has surpassed 300 million streams on Spotify, achieving this milestone in just 80 days since its release in July. This is the fastest record for a K-Pop girl group. Recently, BLACKPINK's 'JUMP' ranked 95th on the Billboard Hot 100 (as of September 27), maintaining its presence for 10 consecutive weeks since its release on July 11.
Following them were Dreamcatcher, IVE, IU, aespa, NiziU, NMIXX, and ITZY.
The rankings for Kim Sejeong, Hearts2Hearts, BLACKPINK, Dreamcatcher, IVE, IU, aespa, NiziU, NMIXX, and ITZY were determined using a media index from online music site Melon (30%), Google Trends index (10%), and global popularity votes from TENASIA's voting service (60%).
The criteria for nominees in the K-Pop Boy Brand and K-Pop Girl Brand categories include male and female idol groups and solo artists within the top 20 on the Melon chart for the month. The Hot Genre Brand category includes domestic groups and solo artists within the top 20 on the Melon chart and Idol Champ monthly chart.
Each month, the TENASIA Artist Top Ten offers benefits such as exclusive feature articles and promotion as the Artist Top Ten on TENASIA's main page.
By Min-Kyung Lee, TENASIA Reporter 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr
