Streaming Masters – IU
South Korean superstar IU just debuted straight at #1 with her new song Blueming on the Gaon charts this week destroying all competition as well as taking up half of the top 10 digital tracks there with songs from her new album Love Poem.
No one who follows the charts there are surprised really, it’s just what she does with everything she releases in her homeland. And she’s been doing it for a decade now!
But is this really enough for IU to go up against her fellow Koreans that are way more popular than her internationally?
In order to account for her real popularity in each relevant country, the below sources have been used along with the mentioned ratios that reflect the market share of each area.
Audio Streams
– South Korea : Genie streams * 3.05 (consistent with Gaon streaming numbers)
– Japan : AWA streams * 100/5.5 (AWA has 5.5% of the Japanese streaming market)
– Elsewhere : Spotify streams * (370 – 8.5 – 9.5 – 33 – 9) / 207 (370 million global subscribers minus 8.5 million from South Korea minus 9.5 million from Japan minus 33 million from China divided by the number of Spotify only users minus 9 million more Asian users) + Genie streams * 0.75 (uses Genie rather than Spotify to extrapolate markets like Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam)*
*The multiplier for Genie streams have been set to 0.75 instead of the usual 3.05 to not inflate her Asian numbers since her popularity is much larger in South Korea in comparison unlike most western acts and more global K-pop artists like BTS and Blackpink.
Video Streams – China* : Xiami streams * 125/6.5 (Xiami has just over 5% of the Chinese streaming market)
– Elsewhere : Youtube views
*since 96.4% of Chinese streaming platforms are free users, that paid-for users pay less than $2 a month and that they are also used as video streaming platforms, their streams are weighted in par with YouTube streams.
Audio Stream value – 1500 plays equal 1 album unit
Video Stream value – 11,750 views equal 1 album unit
Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = ( Spotify * 310/207 + Genie * 3.05 + Genie * 0.75 + AWA * 100/5.5 ) / 1500 + ( Xiami * 125/6.5 + YouTube ) / 11750
IU streaming review – the results
Total: 3,585,934 EAS
Want uptodate data? Access updated numbers everyday right here!
IU most streamed tracks (EAS)
1. Through the Night [Palette] – 293,000
2. Palette [Palette] – 243,000
3. Bbibbi [Orphan] – 205,000
4. Can’t Love You Anymore? [Palette] – 146,000
5. Friday [Modern Times] – 141,000
6. Twenty-Three [Chat-Shire] – 108,000
7. Not Spring, Love or Cherry Blossoms [Orphan] – 105,000
8. Autumn Morning [A Flower Bookmark 2] – 103,000
9. Love Story [Orphan] – 99,000
10. The Meaning Of You [A Flower Bookmark] – 97,000
11. SoulMate [Orphan] – 90,000
12. Dlwlrma [Palette] – 87,000
13. Heart [Orphan] – 84,000
14. Ending Scene [Palette] – 80,000
15. Good Day [Real] – 70,000
16. Dear Name [Palette] – 67,000
17. Sleepless Rainy Night [A Flower Bookmark 2] – 62,000
18. My Old Story [A Flower Bookmark] – 59,000
19. Road [Orphan] – 58,000
20. Love Poem [Love Poem] – 52,000
Sources: Spotify, YouTube, AWA (app), Xiami, Genie.
