Get To Know Sajaegi, Cheating On The Korean Digital Music Chart

Rapper and member of the Block B group, Park Kyung, who wrote a controversial tweet on his Twitter account (KQ Entertainment)

JAKARTA - The Hallyu wave that hit the world also hit their home country. As of every year, at least more than 10 K-pop groups and soloists debut. New music releases also appear every week. This puts competition both in terms of sales and promotion at stake.

Entering the music charts is a dream for musicians with a career in South Korea. Currently, there are six music chart services in South Korea, namely iChart, Melon, Genie, Bugs, Soribada, and Flo. These six music charts are a benchmark for music, whether it is known or not.

Due to the intense competition, various ways have also been done by agencies and fans who overshadowed the artist to be able to help the artist's music enter the music charts. Bulk streaming is one of the ways that fans often do. How, when a singer releases a piece of music or a single, fans can immediately play music without pausing.

However, when a musician does not have a strong fan base, what should a musician do? The agency's role is certainly big here. Unfortunately, in recent times, the agency has taken part in cheating on behalf of the artist who entered the music charts. Sajaegi is a term for K-pop musicians who manipulate charts.

The Sajaegi issue has indeed been circulating for a long time, but in 2019, this will be the first. Rapper and member of the Block B group, Park Kyung, wrote a tweet on his Twitter account (now deleted). The inscription reads: "I want to do Sajaegi like Vibe, like Song Ha Ye, like Lim Jae Hyun, like Jeon Sang Keun, like Jang Deok Cheol, and like Hwang In Wook ^^ ;;"

Capture the KYUNGPARK1992 Twitter upload screen

Seeing the development of the charts, currently singer Vibe ranks number 5 on the Melon chart for her song Call Me Back, Song Ha Ye with Another Love at number 11, Im Jae Hyun with I'm a Little Drunk at number 12, Jeon Sang Keun with the song I Still Love You A Lot at number 15, Jang Deok Cheol with See You later at number 16, and Hwang In Wook with Sad Drinking at number 24.

For a singer who rarely promotes, getting on the music charts is an amazing thing. And Park Kyung's opinion received mixed reactions. Moreover, he also did not explain further the origin of the list of singers he said had done Sajaegi. Anyway, because of this, Park Kyung's song is back on the charts. Meanwhile, the singer called Park Kyung took a legal action to sue him.

Actually, this course of action has been widely heard among music lovers in South Korea. Among them are the singers Nilo, Ben, and Shaun, who have been reported to have done Sajaegi. On November 26, the CBS radio program Kim Hyun Jung's News Show interviewed music critic Kim Jak Ga about the manaegi which has now gone viral because Park Kyung wrote a tweet and accused several singers of this fraudulent act.

"The manipulation of the charts has been more extensive and open since 2017. There are no examples with legal evidence or judgments," said Jak Ga, quoted from Soompi. Jak Ga continued, things like Sajaegi are truths that people in the music industry have become aware of and they often receive offers to do so. Jak Ga even mentioned that his actions were almost as secretive as drug trafficking transactions.

Unfortunately, this act of manipulation cannot be brought about legally because nothing can be confirmed without personal intervention. Kim Jak Ga explained how a classicky contract is made by a person known as a broker.

"It is called a viral business, directly contacting the agency when a singer from the agency debuts or releases new music, or they are also connected through references," he said.

A certain amount of money is then paid out so that the company maintains number one for a certain time. The agreement was made by a company that does this viral business. For pricing, it depends on a factor whether the singer is still pioneering or already established in popularity.

Jak Ga also explained that the offices are located in various countries, including China. “Hundreds of devices use multiple IDs registered on music sites. Streaming happens instantly especially at night and early morning when there are not many users. Tens of thousands of IDs logged in could easily get a song up on the music charts. "

In 2015, the JTBC television channel had leaked the companies in China that did the practice. As Jak Ga described it, many of the devices were playing a song. According to Jak Ga, currently there are not many singers with a strong fan base so chart manipulation is more common.

Even though it has been going on for a long time, until now it is still difficult to uncover the actions on the charts. "This can only be disclosed by the reporter. But this other reason is difficult to reveal because music sites are not active in disclosing data and patterns, ”explained Kim Jak Ga. Music sites in South Korea that are not transparent in showing data mean that the actors of the Sajaegi are still not clear on who did it. To be sure, a course of action must have the agency's interference overshadowing the artist.