Melon (online music service)

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"MelOn" redirects here. For other uses, see Melon (disambiguation).

Melon
File:Melon logo.png
Screenshot
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Screenshot of Melon's new interface, launched in August 2016
Type of site
OMS
Available inKorean
FoundedNovember 16, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-11-16)
OwnerKakao Entertainment
Created bySK Telecom
URLwww.melon.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired, for South Koreans only[1]
Users4~5 million (in South Korea alone, as of 2018)
LaunchedNovember 16, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-11-16)

Melon (Korean: 멜론; RR: Mellon) is a South Korean online music store and music streaming service introduced in November 2004, and developed by SK Telecom. LOEN Entertainment (became Kakao M and then Kakao Entertainment) became the company-in-charge of the service in 2009. In 2017, Kakao merged Kakao Music into Melon to have one, unified music streaming service.[2]

Melon is South Korea's largest music subscription service, with over 28 million users. Melon is the most popular music streaming service in South Korea. In fact, a survey of users of smartphones found that they were the most used applications by Koreans.[3] Melon users can stream and download music and music videos and create custom ringtones.[4] Melon is available on Android and iOS.[citation needed]

The name "Melon" is a portmanteau of the phrase "melody on".[5]

History

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Melon was founded on November 16, 2004, in South Korea by SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier. It attracted more than 10,000 subscribers per day on average, surpassing 310,000 on its first few months.[6] In October 2008, SK Telecom transferred the majority of Melon's stock to its shareholder Loen Entertainment for approximately 24.3 billion KRW.[7] In July 2013, SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, sold 52.56% of its stake in Loen Entertainment to Star Invest Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm.[8] Later in January 2016, Kakao acquired a 76.4% stake in the company for 1.87 trillion won (approximately $1.64 billion).[9][10] In 2018, Kakao M spun-off from Kakao, but Melon stayed.[citation needed]

In 2021, Melon merged with Kakao Entertainment and rebranded itself as "Melon M". This joint venue aimed to secure their leadership in the showbiz industry. Lee Jae-wook will lead the joint. At that time, the streaming platform boasted 33 million users and around 5 million paying users.[11]

International operations

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In 2010, Melon was launched by SK Telecom in Indonesia, in partnership with Telkom Indonesia.[12] In 2016, Telkom Indonesia bought all the stake formerly owned by SK Telecom following the SK Telecom's divestment from all Melon businesses, thus making Melon Indonesia an Indonesian company.[13]

Promotions

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Music programs on TV

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Error creating thumbnail: File missing
A screenshot of Red Velvet performing Russian Roulette on the SBS program Inkigayo on September 11, 2016, showing the introduction ticker for the song. The ticker shows the highlighting of Melon as a main sponsor for the said program. (from the official SBS Inkigayo YouTube account[14])

Melon is the main sponsor of the following music-related shows:

Melon Music Awards

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Main article: Melon Music Awards

In 2009, LOEN Entertainment launched the Melon Music Awards (MMA), an award-giving body dedicated to calculating digital sales and online votes to judge the winners.[15]

Achievements

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Songs with the most weeks at number one

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Weeks Artist Song Year
released 		Ref.
15 Aespa "Supernova" 2024 [16]
Huntrix "Golden" 2025 [17]
14 NewJeans "Ditto" 2022 [18]
11 G-Dragon "Home Sweet Home" 2024 [citation needed]
BTS "Dynamite" 2020 [19]
9 AKMU "Love Lee" 2023 [20]
8 Yoon Do-hyun "I Guess I Loved You" 2005 [18]
BigBang "Last Farewell" 2007
Girls' Generation "Gee" 2009
Zico "Any Song" 2020
Mirani, Munchman, Khundi Panda, Mushvenom feat. Justhis "VVS"
Brave Girls "Rollin'" 2017

Longest charting songs on weekly chart

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Weeks Artist Song Current
position[21]
446 BTS "Spring Day" OUT
388 Paul Kim "Every Day, Every Moment" 49
273 AKMU "How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You're the One I Love" 31
271 Lim Young-woong "Trust in Me" OUT
237 BTS "Dynamite" OUT
226 Sung Si-kyung "Every Moment Of You" 48
224 GyeongseoYeji & Jun Gun-ho "If You Lovingly Call My Name" 57
209 Jannabi "For lovers who hesitate" 46
208 Lim Young-Wong "Love always runs away"
197 Kim Min-Seok "Drunken Confession" 96
As of October 31, 2025

Most liked songs of all time

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Likes Artist Song Year
released 		Ref
512,625 BTS "Spring Day" 2017 [22]
488,691 AKMU "How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You're the One I Love" 2019 [23]
469,462 BTS "Dynamite" 2020 [22]
457,726 IU "Through the Night" 2017 [24]
449,929 Jannabi "For Lovers Who Hesitate" 2019 [25]
438,238 Paul Kim "Every Day, Every Moment" 2018 [26]
421,311 BTS ft. Halsey "Boy With Luv" 2019 [22]
416,275 Anne-Marie "2002" 2018 [27]
401,236 IU ft. Suga "Eight" 2020 [24]
376,231 DAY6 "You Were Beautiful" 2017 [28]
As of October 26, 2025

Most streamed artists of all time

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Streams
(billions) 		Artist Ref
13.46 BTS [29]
12.28 Lim Young-woong [30]
9.63 IU [31]
8.54 Exo [32]
5.03 Seventeen [33]
4.47 Kim Ho-joong [34]
3.81 Bolbbalgan4 [35]
3.59 BigBang [36]
3.33 Taeyeon [37]
3.26 Davichi [38]
As of September 5, 2025

All-time records

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  • Most streamed artist: BTS (13.23B streams)[29]
  • Most streamed song: Lim Young-woong – "Trust in Me" (1.06B streams)
  • Song with most unique listeners: BTS – "Spring Day" (8.6M ULs)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on realtime chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden (2398 hours)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on daily chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - " Golden" (102 days)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on weekly chart: Aespa – "Supernova [16], Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - Golden (15 weeks)
  • Longest-running No 1 song on monthly chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden" (4 months)
  • Longest-running Top 10 song on weekly chart: NewJeans – "Hype Boy"[39] (49 weeks)
  • Longest-running Top 10 song on yearly chart: Paul Kim – "Every Day, Every Moment",[40] BTS (feat. Halsey) – "Boy with Luv"[41] (2 years)
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on daily chart: BTS – "Spring Day [42]
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on weekly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (446 weeks)
  • Longest-running Top 100 song on yearly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (7 years)[42]
  • Most roof-hit song: Zico – "Any Song" (51 roof-hits)[43]
  • Most unique listeners for a song in 1st 24 hours: IU – "Bbibbi" (1,462,625 ULs)[44]

Accolades

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Melon, a leading music streaming service in South Korea, has achieved significant recognition over the years for its impact on the music industry and its innovative features. In 2011, it was honored as one of "Korea's Best 25 Apps" at the App Awards Korea, highlighting its popularity and user-friendly design.[45]

Melon was recognized at the 2012 Trusted Brand Awards.[46]

Melon won the "Grand Prize for Digital Contents" in the 2012 Korean Digital Management Innovation Awards.[47]

Melon was recognized in the 2012 Korea Brand Power Index.[48]

Ilgan Sports ranked Melon as the 3rd most influential entity in the K-pop industry in a November 2013 poll in celebration of its 44th anniversary.[49]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Formerly sponsored by rival music service Bugs

References

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