New changes in Korean music charts will be affecting midnight music releases.

February 15, according to various industry insiders, the major Korean music sites — Melon, Bugs, Genie, Mnet, Soribada, Naver Music, Monkey3 — will be undergoing a reform in how their charts are managed. Namely, songs released at midnight will not enter charts until the following afternoon at 1 p.m.

Only performance of songs released between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. will immediately be reflected in real-time charts. Performance of any songs released outside of this window will show in music charts the following afternoon. This will hold true for both weekdays and weekends.

Midnight is a target release time for many artists. Because of the late hour, there are fewer users online, so when fans gather for a release, it’s comparatively easier for artists to hit No. 1 on the charts, achieve an all-kill, or even line up their songs on a single chart.

This issue surrounding midnight releases has been consistently brought up within the industry for some time. With these new changes, music sites aim to maintain fair rankings and prevent sudden waves of changes in the charts, as well as prevent alleged “sajaegi” (when companies buy their artists’ albums to chart high).

In the event that an artist takes over the top spots of a chart with a midnight release, it has an effect on the rankings the next morning, as well, causing a hindrance to fair competition. The fact that technical issues in the morning cannot be handled immediately also poses an issue to continued midnight releases.

Though the Ministry of Culture has pushed various measures in the past to maintain fairness in the music industry, such as improvements in real-time charts and removing song recommendations within charts, they haven’t always worked.

An industry source stated, “We hope that everyone will participate in this movement for a more healthy industry. However, we’ve already experienced back-and-forth with midnight releases being discontinued and then coming back. We need a more rational solution.”

The changes outlined above, if implemented quickly, will take place at the end of this month.

Source (1) via soompi

A first glimpse of BIGBANG’s T.O.P and JYJ’s Junsu in military uniform has been revealed.

February 15, a training camp posted group photos with T.O.P and Junsu on its home page, where the two look like they’re fitting right in.

The photo was taken on February 9, the day of their enlistment. T.O.P and Junsu will be training for four weeks, after which they will be carrying out their service as policemen. Their service ends in November of 2018.

Source (1) via Soompi

Pictures of BIGBANG‘s T.O.P and JYJ’s Junsu in their military uniforms have been released for the first time by media. 

The two artists officially enlisted on February 9 and were spotted together at the “Nonsan Army Bootcamp” opening ceremony. T.O.P and Junsu spoke to each other briefly before joining the rest of the Korean men enlisting on the same day as them.

Now, photos of the two have been released in their full military outfits. The photos were published to the Nonsan Bootcamp’s official website along with all the other soldiers. The photos are published for friends and family on the outside to see how their loved ones are doing in the army.

T.O.P and Junsu have both been assigned to the 25th Regiment. T.O.P was assigned to 1st Company while Junsu was assigned to 2nd Company.

The 25th Regiment’s Colonel, Hwang San Duk announced that the 25th Regiment will undergo the following training exercises for next week: rifle shooting, gas chamber training, and combat training.

Bootcamp lasts for four weeks, after which they will be assigned to the National Police Agency to serve out their 2-year military term.

Check out the photos of the two below:

Pictures Released Of T.O.P and Junsu Entering The Military
➜ Read More: https://t.co/pSihdOAtZV pic.twitter.com/ujtViWMxmu

— Koreaboo (@Koreaboo) February 9, 2017

Source: Korea Army Training Center / Koreaboo