Netizens are voicing suspicions of sajaegi or chart manipulation after TWS made it into the top 10 on the MelOn daily chart.
On February 10th, TWS' debut song "Plot Twist" made it to the top 10 on the Melon daily chart. The chart gives a ranking based on numbers of 40% streaming and 60% downloading users daily. Despite such achievement, netizens began to question the legitimacy of the song's chart rankings.
One of the main reasons behind the suspicions of sajaegi surrounding "Plot Twist" is the streaming data. According to MelOn, "Plot Twist" has seen a continuous increase in listeners since its release on January 22nd. This unusual pattern has led many to believe that the group's chart success may not be entirely organic.
Sajaegi refers to the practice of artificially inflating an artist's album or song sales to manipulate chart rankings. This often involves bulk buying of albums or streams by agencies to boost an artist's ranking on music charts.
While some fans have rallied behind TWS, defending them against accusations of sajaegi, others remain skeptical. Some of the comments include:
"The view counts on their content or music video aren't that much."
"Well, if they really climbed organically and cleanly, this is like the most successful boy group debut."
"Based on the numbers alone that pattern is comparable to 'Growl' or 'Love Scenario' level. But strangely, I'm not feeling it in real life."
"All the other boy groups have many good songs lol Can't defend by just saying 'their song is good.'"
"The numbers say they are the male NewJeans but I don't feel that at all in real life."
"Stop being jealous."
"The rankings increased even over the holiday lol Must be our national group."
What do you think?
The safest thing to do is wait for actual proof. We can't assume anything based off of gut feelings.
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