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Circle Chart
Type of site	Record chart
Available in	Korean
Predecessor(s)	Gaon Chart ; (2010–2022)
Owner	Korea Music Content Association
URL	circlechart.kr
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Optional
Launched	February 23, 2010; 14 years ago
Current status	Active

The Circle Chart (Korean: 써클차트; RR: Sseokeul-chateu), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (Korean: 가온차트; RR: Gaon-chateu), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. Founded in 2010, it is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

History

Gaon Chart was launched in February 2010 by the Korea Music Content Association, under the sponsorship of the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the aim to create a domestic national chart similar to the Billboard charts of the United States and the Oricon charts of Japan. The word gaon, which means "middle" or "center" in Korean, was chosen to represent fairness and reliability. The chart started tracking sales from the beginning of that year.^[1] A small awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the launch ceremony on February 23, at the Westin Chosun hotel in Seoul. Girl group Girls' Generation was awarded the Top Artist of January, boy band Super Junior won Best Album of 2009, and Jo Kwon and Ga-in's "We Fell In Love" won Best Weekly Mobile Ringtone.^[2]

In February 2011, Gaon published online and offline album sales information for 2010, including a detailed breakdown of online chart data. This was the first time that offline album sales had been released since 2008 when the Music Industry Association of Korea stopped compiling data.^[3]

On July 7, 2022, the Gaon Chart was rebranded as Circle Chart. A new Global K-pop Chart was introduced alongside the retention of existing charts. The Gaon Chart Music Awards were also rebranded to the Circle Chart Awards.^[4]

Music charts

Song charts

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Ranking methodology
Global K-pop Chart	streaming	200	Worldwide K-pop streaming usage
Digital Chart	streaming + download + background music + V Coloring sales	200	South Korea standard song popularity chart
Streaming Chart	streaming	200	Streaming usage volume in South Korea One of four component charts of the Digital Chart
Download Chart	download	200	Download sales volume in South Korea One of four component charts of the Digital Chart
BGM Chart	background music	200	Background music sales volume in South Korea One of four component charts of the Digital Chart
V Coloring Chart	video ringback tones	100	V Coloring app usage volume in South Korea One of four component charts of the Digital Chart

Album charts

Chart title	Number of positions	Ranking methodology
Album Chart	100	Album distribution volume (tape, LP, CD, USB, KiT, platform album, etc.)
Retail Album Chart	50	Total sales of offline albums at retail stores (tape, LP, CD, USB, KiT, platform album, etc.)

Other music charts

Chart title	Number of positions	Ranking methodology
Singing Room Chart	200	Number of times song played in noraebang
Bell Chart	100	Ranking of ringtones of South Korea mobile carriers
Ring Chart	100	Ranking of ringtones of South Korea mobile carriers

Social charts

The Circle Social Chart is a weekly chart that ranks the top 50 most popular K-pop artists using data from YouTube, TikTok, Mubeat, and Mycelebs.^[5]

The Gaon Weibo Chart was a weekly chart that ranked the top 10 most popular K-pop groups and the top 30 most popular individual K-pop artists in China using data from Weibo.

Certification

In April 2018, Korea Music Content Association introduced music recording certifications for albums, downloads and streaming. Album certifications are awarded based on shipment figures provided by record labels and distributors. Download and streaming certifications are awarded to songs based on online data provided by web-based music providers. Albums and songs released on or after January 1, 2018, are eligible for certification.

Album

Thresholds per award^[6]^[7]
Platinum	2× Platinum	3× Platinum	Million	2× Million^[a]
250,000	500,000	750,000	1,000,000	2,000,000

Download

Thresholds per award^[6]^[7]
Platinum	2× Platinum	3× Platinum	Diamond
2,500,000	5,000,000	7,500,000	10,000,000

Streaming

Thresholds per award^[6]^[7]
Platinum	2× Platinum	3× Platinum^[b]	Billion
100,000,000	200,000,000	300,000,000	1,000,000,000

Awards

Circle Chart Music Awards

References

^ Han, Sang-hee (February 23, 2010). "Korea Launches First Official Music Charts Gaon". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
^ Seung-hun, Kang (February 23, 2010). "Korea launches integrated K-pop music chart 'Gaon'". 10 Asia. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
^ "Super Junior's 4th Album Ranked Top-Seller of 2010". The Chosun Ilbo. February 8, 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
^ Lee, Tae-soo (July 7, 2022). 가온차트, 써클차트로 개편…국내·해외 판매량 구분해 공개 [Gaon chart reorganized into Circle Chart...Domestic and overseas sales disclosed separately] (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
^ [ 2022년 1월 3일 공지사항 ] [[ Notice on January 3, 2022 ]]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). January 3, 2022. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Gaon Certification". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Notice: GAON Certification". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. April 20, 2018. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.