Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Nilo‘s 2017 release in “Pass By” has been a surprise chart topper in 2018, and despite his obviously totally legit obsessive fans, now an agency representative has told SBS‘s ‘One Night Of TV Entertainment‘ they have no idea what’s going on either.
When the show interviewed representatives from Nilo’s agency, they asked them directly if they had engaged in any form of chart manipulation. Agency head Lee Shi Woo replied, “There has been none at all. We have no understanding of the system itself, to the point that we found out that there hadn’t been any abnormal activity because we heard through a report by a music chart.” The reporter pointed out to the representatives that the song has been rising on the charts in the early morning hours. “The song is a ballad,” replied Lee Shi Woo. “Wouldn’t people possibly want to listen to it before they go to sleep? Wouldn’t it be less appropriate to listen to dance songs in the early morning?” “In regards to the graphs, we’d never even thought of music charts as being graphs,” he stated. “We also aren’t unable to understand how this has happened.”
So they are basically pleading ignorance about how this is all going down. Hells yeah.
Another company representative, when it was pointed out that a petition was started, has welcomed investigation.
The show also pointed out that a petition has been filed online to the government requesting an investigation of the matter by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. “We are also curious and we are also upset,” said Song Joon Ho. “Even though the song came in first place, it’s a very upsetting situation. We want to know too. We would rather be investigated.”
Drag this out as long as possible, IMO.
Meanwhile, Gaon‘s researcher released an opinion piece on Nilo’s song, mainly comparing it to past viral phenomenons. For starters, he found it odd that the song was irrelevant at karaoke.
“If a song begins to climb on the charts to a certain level, it is common that the rank of that song will also go up at karaoke,” he said. “The charts at karaoke can be seen as an indicator of the popularity of a song because people sing it themselves.” He pointed out that the songs by Yoon Jong Shin, Han Dong Geun, and EXID showed an increase in the rankings both on digital charts and karaoke charts at the same time. A song by Nilo’s labelmate Jang Deok Cheol titled “Good Old Days” also recently had sudden success on the charts. However, Kim Jin Woo explained that the song was not surrounded by controversy because it was also rising on the charts at karaoke at the same time, proving that it was actually popular among the public. In comparison, the success of Nilo’s “Pass” cannot be verified by looking at karaoke charts. Kim Jin Woo said that in the case of one karaoke machine company (referred to as ‘T’), the song hasn’t yet been entered into the system. Another company (referred to as ‘K’) only entered the song this month, and so it hasn’t yet appeared on the charts. Kim Jin Woo wrote that it’s only natural that a song that’s not yet in the system wouldn’t have a ranking in the chart yet. However, he noted that this factor can be seen as evidence of just how quickly the song rose in the charts, since it wasn’t even noticed by the karaoke companies, who have to be very observant about which songs are current or predicted hits.
The article also expressed skepticism of the agency’s explanation that viral marketing is behind his success.
Kim Jin Woo responded, “There is reasonable doubt among Internet users over whether online marketing through social media can dominate realtime music charts in the early morning when the number of users is the lowest. This is because there are people who see social media posts immediately after they’re uploaded, people who see them an hour later, and people who see them one or two days later, and so the effects are bound to be seen over a long period of time. It is logical to think that no matter how precisely a target is set up, it would be difficult to see its effects intensively at a specific time.”
The researcher also noted that it was odd how there were no highs and lows for the song.
Next, Kim Jin Woo noted, “There were no ups and downs or a fall to the chart’s floor followed by an increase in ranking, as shown in the previous songs that climbed that charts. In the case of Nilo’s song, it is difficult to find a temporary decline in the charts or a plateau followed by another rise, which are common with sudden climbs on the chart by digital songs.”
He concluded by pointing out that there weren’t any trigger events that could’ve led to this.
He added, “Lastly, it is difficult to find any direct events and triggers similar to what caused the previous songs to climb on the charts.” He pointed out that events could be named for the other songs that became sudden hits. EXID’s “Up & Down,” for example, became popular after a fan-taken video of Hani performing went viral. Han Dong Geun’s “Making a New Ending for this Story” became a hit following cover videos and his appearance on “Radio Star” and “Duet Song Festival.” Yoon Jong Shin’s “Like It” skyrocketed on the charts after a YouTube video of him performing went viral. Kim Jin Woo also named GFRIEND’s famous performance in which they continued to dance despite falling repeatedly on a wet stage as another example of a concrete event that led to a rise on the charts.
That hasn’t discouraged Limez Entertainment, however, who has once again denied everything.
“Once again, we state that the accusations of digital chart manipulation are not true. We have never used any illegal methods.”
Yeah! Clearly Gaon are just a bunch of antis!!!
Nilo oppar, FIGHTING!
#WeBelieveNilo2K18
