EXO’s long awaited comeback is upon us, and there are some simple ways in which you can give back to them for their hard work, and contribute towards their greater success.

The tutorial is intended to be concise and in depth, so we have opted for combing all chart information together, in order to avoid an even greater length. We know that you may be a little overwhelmed at first, but please read carefully, and you will have absolutely no problems.

[Instructions]: There are two sections in this tutorial - the ‘Chart Rankings Criteria’ and ‘How You Can Help’. Next to each category in the ‘Chart Rankings Criteria’ below, you will see a number in square brackets (e.g. [1]), indicating a corresponding detailed explanation in the ‘How You Can Help’ section. Each of the detailed sub-sections are marked by a star, and a number. Note that we will use a 24h clock throughout the tutorial.

★ CHART RANKINGS CRITERIA ★

ㅡ Mnet M! Countdown (Mnet 엠! 카운트다운)

• 50% - Digital single sales (Mel0n, Soribada, Bugs, Mnet) - [2]
• 10% - Physical album sales (Hanteo, Synnara, Hot tracks) - [1]
• 5% - Global fan voting (voting online using a Mnet account)
• 20% - Age preference
• 10% - Live show preference
• 5% - SMS voting (for top 3 artist only) - [7]

ㅡ KBS Music Bank (KBS 뮤직뱅크)

• 65% - Digital charts (Online downloads and streaming - Mel0n, Soribada, Bugs) - [2],[3]
• 5% - Physical Album sales (Hanteo, Synnara, Hot Tracks) - [1]
• 20% - Broadcast time/frequency (Frequency of appearance on KBS TV/radio, including how often their music is played) - [10]
• 10% - Viewer voting

ㅡ MBC Show! Music Core (MBC 쇼! 음악중심)

• 60% - Physical and digital sales - [1],[2]
• 10% - Music Video Views (Mel0n, Bugs, Mnet) - [3]
• 10% - Viewer Committee points (pre-voting by a committee of 2000 people) - [8]
• 20% - Live SMS voting (1st place nominees only) - [7]

ㅡ SBS Inkigayo (SBS 인기가요)

• 60% - Sales points (Gaon Comprehensive Sales chart) - [1],[2]
• 35% - SNS points (YouTube views and Twitter mentions, as ranked by the Gaon Aggregate SNS Score chart) - [6]
• 5% - Advance Viewer Vote Points (SBS mobile app ‘SOTY’) - [5]
• 10% - Live SMS Voting (for top 3 artists only) - [7]

ㅡ MBC Show Champion (MBC 쇼 챔피언)

• 50% - Digital download and streaming rankings - [2],[3]
• 15% - Bugs Music site online voting - [4]
• 20% - Hanteo Chart - (to be checked)
• 15% - Music professional ranking

★ HOW YOU CAN HELP ★

★ 1. Physical Sales

There are two charts that monitor physical album sales. The ‘Hanteo’ chart monitors the daily, weekly and monthly sales, and counts towards the weekly music show rankings. Sale from many, but not all, stores are reflected on the chart.

The ‘Gaon’ chart is a comprehensive chart which tracks the total yearly album sales, physical and digital, and together with the ‘Hanteo’ chart it counts towards the end-of-year award shows. Note that ‘Gaon’ also has a number of other ranking charts.

For your sale to count towards the charts, you must buy from retailers that directly contribute towards those charts, or whose sales go through ‘Hanteo’. Sales from the following retailers count towards the charts (it is possible sales from some other retailers also contribute, but these are the ones we are certain about):

KpopTown | YesAsia | DVD Heaven | Kpopmart | Synnara | Leesmusic

Those with a Korean Citizen Registration Number (주민등록번호) or a Foreign Resident Registration Number (외국인등록번호) may also use: HotTracks

★ 2. Digital Sales / Downloads

Please not that digital download [2] and online streaming [3] sections have some overlap, so please do read both fully.

Sales from the following online music portals all contribute towards the digital sale component of the music charts:

Mel0n | Bugs | Mnet | Soribada | Olleh

Sing up tutorials: Mel0n, Olleh (These apply to section [2] and [3]), Mnet (for Mnet, you need to join the Korean site, so if redirected to Mnet America, click on Mnet Korea in the top righ-hand corner)

Itunes downloads do not count towards any of the charts.

★ 3. Online Streaming

Outline of information per site (large version [click]):

Purchasing the songs, and streaming them through your personal music player, does not constitute streaming in this sense. Only streaming online, or through he appropriate mobile apps, is counted.

Streaming songs:

1. Search for the songs on the site players, and play in full.
2. Do not touch the player bar. Do not mute or replay. Do not shuffle or fast-forward.
3. For the downloads / streams to be reflected accurately on the charts, log out before midnight (00:00 KST), and if using an app, close it before that time.

- Mel0n

Computer: [click] (Check sectio [2] for a sign up tutorial)

Mobile App - iTunes, Android - Alter the settings as indicated below:

• 설정 -> 캐싱 및 임시저장 파일관리 -> 음원 캐싱적용 OFF(Translation: Settings -> Caching and Temporary Files Storage -> Sound source caching OFF)
• 설정 -> 음원 설정 -> 스트리밍 파일 AAC+ 설정, 다운로드 파일 음질은 192K로 설정.(Settings -> Sound settings - > Streaming File AAC+ Settings, set the quality of download files to 192K)
• When streaming:

 

 

- Mnet

Computer | Mobile app: iTunes - Android

- Bugs

Web Player | Mobile app: iTunes - Android - Windows phone

- Soribada

Online: Global site - Korean site | Mobile app: iTunes - Android

- Olleh

Site | Mobile app: iTunes | Android (Check section [2] fro sign-up details)

★ 4. Online Voting

- Mnet M! Countdown - [vote here] - You will need to create a Mnet ID (very simple process, as the site is available in multiple languages).

• Voting starts on Friday, 11:00 KST, and ends on Monday, 9:00 KST
• One vote, per account, per day
• Ten votes per IP address, per day

- Show Champion - [vote here] - Voting is open Wednesday to Saturday. When voting:

• Locate EXO on the list
• Tick the box on the left of EXO’s entry
• Scroll down and click on ‘투표하기’

- General Online Voting Polls

Fans can participate in various general online polls, which may directly or indirectly contribute towards enhancing EXO’s music show rankings, and public profile:

• Music Star Sports Seoul- No account required. Contributes directly towards the Bugs Music digital score. Select the star next to EXO’s name.
• Melon Chart Battle - A Mel0n account is required. Mark the box under Shinhwa’s number and click on the blue box at the end of the row.
• Sports Chosun - No account required. Click on the yellow smiley face under EXO’s section.
• Various other charts about which you will be notified.

★ 5. Advance Viewer Vote Points / SOTY Voting (SBS Inkigayo)

This category is worth 5% of the overall SBS Inkigayo score.

• The voting takes place every week, from Sunday (just after the SBS Inkigayo broadcast) to Saturday.

Download: iTunes | Android - Voting: [tutorial]

★ 6. SNS Points (SBS Inkigayo)

SNS points are worth 35% of the overall SBS Inkigayo score. You can help gather points for EXO through the following:

- YouTube:

• Stream EXO’s videos through the official YouTube channels (it’s best you use the first two): EXO-K | EXO-M | SMTown
• Stream their performance recording through the official broadcast channel station, when uploaded: Mnet | MBC | KBS | SBS
• Please play the videos in full.
• Do not mute the video while playing (You can simply lower the volume, but not entirely, and plug in your earphones. That way you don’t need to listen, if you don’t wish to)
• We recommend using private browsing. That way, after you watch the video once, you can simply close the private window, open a new one, and restart the process. It’s easier that closing and relaunching the browser completely.
• Like the videos, post comments, and spread them.
• It’s best to watch the videos on YouTube, rather than viewing the videos embedded on other sites.

- Twitter: Use the #엑소, #EXO and #늑대와미녀 hashtags when tweeting (it seems the last two are most used now, but check what others are doing). Please use only one hashtag per tweet, or they will be disregarded. Your tweets will only count if your account is set to public while tweeting. If that is a problem, please create a separate twitter account. Participate in fanbase trending activities.

- Facebook:

• Follow the official EXO-K and EXO-M Facebook pages
• Like their page
• Like, comment on, and share their posts

★ 7. Real-time SMS Voting

Voting must be done during the live broadcast periods. One vote per mobile number. You must use the provided Korean language name when voting.

Free SMS options: (Textfree Web - iTunes | Android)(Slide SMS)(Yahoo Messenger)

- Mnet M! Countdown

Vote for EXO if they are in the Top 3 for the week

• Send 엑소 to +822566 or 00822566 (2566 within South Korea)
• One vote per phone number
• A charge of 200 KRW (~0.17 USD) applies, in addition to international SMS charges, unless using the free option

- SBS Inkigayo

Vote for EXO if they are in the Top 3 for the week

• Send 엑소 to 00821245 (1245 within South Korea)
• One vote per phone number
• International SMS charges apply, unless using the free option

- MBC Show! Music Core

• Note that you must vote for two artists
• The two terms must be separated with a comma, and no space
• Example for EXO and Super Junior: 엑소,슈퍼주니어. You may vote for any other artist that is also in the Top 3. If you don’t know their Korean name, you may find them on Wikipedia.
• Note that you can not vote for the same group twice, or vote for more (or less) than two groups
• Send 엑소,슈퍼주니어 (change the second group name to the one you wish to vote for, in addition to voting for EXO) to +820505 or 00820505 (0505 within South Korea)
• International SMS charges apply, unless using the free option

★ 8. Viewer Committee (MBC Show! Champion)

All those with an MBC ID may apply to join the 2000 member Viewer Committee(시청자위원회) [here].

Creating an MBC ID: (Tutorial to be added soon)

★ 9. Public Interest

Note that while public interest may no longer be a criteria (though, it is when it takes the form of online streaming and using the #엑소 hashtag when tweeting - see [6], above), it works towards garnering public interest, which raises EXO’s profile and works to attract new fans. It works best when fans organise, just like with twitter trending, so please keep an eye on, and participate in public interest projects.

Search term: 엑소 (recommended), 엑소케이, 엑소엠, XOXO, member names.

Sites: Naver | Daum | Nate

★ 10. Broadcast Frequency (KBS Music Bank)

Certain radio shows accept song requests, so we can help enhance EXO’s ranking in this category, as well as their public exposure, by requesting their Songs frequently.(Detailed instructions to be added)

Credit: dailyexo.tumblr.com | If you find any mistakes, or have additional information, please contact DailyEXO. You may repost this tutorial on other sites, but please credit and link, and please do not repost on Tumblr.