Melon (online music service)

Melon (Korean: 멜론; RR: Mellon) is a South Korean online music store and music streaming service introduced in November 2004, and developed by SK Telecom. LOEN Entertainment (became Kakao M and then Kakao Entertainment) became the company-in-charge of the service in 2009. In 2017, Kakao merged Kakao Music into Melon to have one, unified music streaming service.

Melon is South Korea's largest music subscription service, with over 28 million users. Melon is the most popular music streaming service in South Korea. In fact, a survey of users of smartphones found that they were the most used applications by Koreans. Melon users can stream and download music and music videos and create custom ringtones. Melon is available on Android and iOS.

The name "Melon" is a portmanteau of the phrase "melody on".

Melon was founded on November 16, 2004, in South Korea by SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier. It attracted more than 10,000 subscribers per day on average, surpassing 310,000 on its first few months. In October 2008, SK Telecom transferred the majority of Melon's stock to its shareholder Loen Entertainment for approximately 24.3 billion KRW. In July 2013, SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, sold 52.56% of its stake in Loen Entertainment to Star Invest Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm. Later in January 2016, Kakao acquired a 76.4% stake in the company for 1.87 trillion won (approximately $1.64 billion). In 2018, Kakao M spun-off from Kakao, but Melon stayed.

In 2021, Melon merged with Kakao Entertainment and rebranded itself as "Melon M". This joint venue aimed to secure their leadership in the showbiz industry. Lee Jae-wook will lead the joint. At that time, the streaming platform boasted 33 million users and around 5 million paying users.

In 2010, Melon was launched by SK Telecom in Indonesia, in partnership with Telkom Indonesia. In 2016, Telkom Indonesia bought all the stake formerly owned by SK Telecom following the SK Telecom's divestment from all Melon businesses, thus making Melon Indonesia an Indonesian company.

A screenshot of Red Velvet performing Russian Roulette on the SBS program Inkigayo on September 11, 2016, showing the introduction ticker for the song. The ticker shows the highlighting of Melon as a main sponsor for the said program. (from the official SBS Inkigayo YouTube account)

Melon is the main sponsor of the following music-related shows:

• Inkigayo (SBS, October 2010 – December 2016, re-sponsored since February 2017 - December 2023. Previously known as Popular Song and The Music Trend.)
• Show! Music Core (MBC, August 2014 – March 2018)
• Show Champion (MBC Music, January 2013 – May 2018)
• You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook (KBS 2TV)
• Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend (KBS 2TV)(February 2012 - 2021)
• K-pop Star (SBS, all six seasons from 2011 to 2017)
• Tribe of Hip Hop (JTBC)
• King of Mask Singer (MBC, since June 2017)
• MIXNINE (JTBC) (2017–2018)
• Music Bank (KBS 2TV, since January 2020)

In 2009, LOEN Entertainment launched the Melon Music Awards (MMA), an award-giving body dedicated to calculating digital sales and online votes to judge the winners.

• Most streamed artist: BTS (13.23B streams)
• Most streamed song: Lim Young-woong – "Trust in Me" (1.06B streams)
• Song with most unique listeners: BTS – "Spring Day" (8.6M ULs)
• Longest-running No 1 song on realtime chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden (2398 hours)
• Longest-running No 1 song on daily chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - " Golden" (102 days)
• Longest-running No 1 song on weekly chart: Aespa – "Supernova, Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - Golden (15 weeks)
• Longest-running No 1 song on monthly chart: Huntrix, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami - "Golden" (4 months)
• Longest-running Top 10 song on weekly chart: WOODZ – "Drowning" (51 weeks and counting)
• Longest-running Top 10 song on yearly chart: Paul Kim – "Every Day, Every Moment", BTS (feat. Halsey) – "Boy with Luv" (2 years)
• Longest-running Top 100 song on daily chart: BTS – "Spring Day
• Longest-running Top 100 song on weekly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (446 weeks)
• Longest-running Top 100 song on yearly chart: BTS – "Spring Day" (9 years)
• Most roof-hit song: Zico – "Any Song" (51 roof-hits)
• Most unique listeners for a song in 1st 24 hours: IU – "Bbibbi" (1,462,625 ULs)

Melon, a leading music streaming service in South Korea, has achieved significant recognition over the years for its impact on the music industry and its innovative features. In 2011, it was honored as one of "Korea's Best 25 Apps" at the App Awards Korea, highlighting its popularity and user-friendly design.

Melon was recognized at the 2012 Trusted Brand Awards.

Melon won the "Grand Prize for Digital Contents" in the 2012 Korean Digital Management Innovation Awards.

Melon was recognized in the 2012 Korea Brand Power Index.

Ilgan Sports ranked Melon as the 3rd most influential entity in the K-pop industry in a November 2013 poll in celebration of its 44th anniversary.

• Naver VIBE

• SK Telecom

• Kakao M

• Apple Music

• Tidal

• iTunes

• Kakao Music

• Melon Music Awards

• Official website (in Korean)