Ive and AKMU Top Melon Charts in the First Half... House Genre Makes a Comeback
Melon Data Lab
2026 First-Half Review
In the first half of this year, the K-pop digital music market was marked by the sustained popularity of major artists, a resurgence of older tracks climbing back up the charts, and a notable revival of the house genre.
On July 9, Kakao Entertainment’s music platform Melon released its big data analysis of the 2026 first-half music chart through 'Data Lab,' highlighting these trends.
The artists who held the top spot on the weekly chart for the longest period in the first half of the year were the group Ive and the sibling duo AKMU. Ive’s title track "BANG BANG" from their second studio album and AKMU’s "Joy, Sadness, Beautiful Mind" and "Paradise of Rumors" from their fourth studio album each spent six weeks at number one on the weekly chart.
On the daily chart, "BANG BANG" by Ive held the number one position for the longest stretch, staying at the top for 40 days. AKMU alternated between two songs at the top spot, maintaining the number one position on the daily chart for a total of 41 days as a single artist.
The song that received the most 'likes' in the first half of the year was also AKMU’s "Joy, Sadness, Beautiful Mind" with 84,891 likes. The only boy group to top the weekly chart was Cortis, and the current number one is I.O.I with their new song "Suddenly," released after a 10-year hiatus.
The group Resenne’s "LOVE ATTACK," released in August 2024, climbed to fifth place on Melon’s "Top 100" last month, nearly two years after its initial release. Singer-songwriter Han Roro’s "0+0" and "Will Fall in Love" also experienced a resurgence, each receiving more than 60,000 likes.
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A revival of the house trend from a decade ago has become evident. In particular, rookie groups in their first or second year have been leading this movement. Kiki’s "404 (New Era)" reached number one on the Top 100 just 16 days after its release in January, making it the first newly released song of the year to achieve this feat. Similarly, "RUDE!" by Hearts2Hearts, a house-based dance track released in February, secured the number two spot immediately after its release and has remained in the upper ranks.
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