How Scores Work

Every artist gets a score from 0 to 1000 based on real data from multiple sources. Here's what goes into it.

The Process

Collect raw data
We collect YouTube channel and video statistics, Spotify artist metrics, Korean music show results, Billboard and Circle Chart positions, album sales figures, and award records.
Apply time decay
Recent events matter more, but how much depends on the time range you select. Short windows (7D, 30D) heavily favor recent activity, while "All Time" uses a gentle 4-year decay so legacy achievements still count.
Rank against peers
Every metric is compared to the rest of the active K-pop roster. The score reflects how an artist stacks up against the field, not raw absolute numbers, so a strong outlier in one category still has to clear the bar set by everyone else.
Combine into a final score
Category scores are weighted and combined into a single composite score on a 0–1000 scale. On short time windows, lifetime metrics are excluded; only recent activity counts.
Show change over time
The percentage next to a score compares the selected window to the same-length window before it. "30D +14%" means the last 30 days are 14% higher than the 30 days prior, the same way financial reports measure growth. Newer artists without enough history for a given window simply show no %.

Score Categories

YouTube Performance
Subscriber count, subscriber growth velocity, plus music video metrics: top MV views, recent view momentum, and fan engagement rate (likes/views). On short time windows, only velocity and recent MV activity count.
Music Streaming
Spotify popularity index (0–100), follower count, estimated total streams, plus follower and stream growth velocities. Comeback surges in streaming and new followers are captured by the velocity metrics.
Music Show Performance
Wins on Korean music shows like Music Bank, Inkigayo, and M Countdown. Bonus points for triple crowns (3+ wins on one song) and all-kills (winning on all shows with the same song).
Chart Performance
Billboard Global 200 weekly scores, appearances, and peak positions. Circle Chart digital weekly scores and cumulative chart strength. On short windows, only per-week chart data contributes.
Album Sales
Cumulative Circle Chart album sales, first-month sales of the latest album, Circle Chart digital appearances and #1 placements, and weekly top-10 presence.
Awards & Recognition
Year-end ceremony awards (MAMA, MMA, GDA, SMA) and Perfect All-Kills (simultaneous #1 on all major Korean charts). Only counted in the All Time view.

Scores are relative; they shift as new data comes in and as other artists gain or lose momentum. A score of 700 today doesn't mean the same as 700 six months from now.

Data & Methodology

Scores shown on this site are derived analytics, not raw figures from any single platform. We aggregate public and licensed data from multiple sources, normalize it, and combine it into a composite rating. Counts shown in any breakdown may differ from what an official platform reports at a given moment, and should not be used as a substitute for official charts, sales certifications, or platform-reported figures. KpopScore is not affiliated with or endorsed by any artist, entertainment agency, music platform, or chart.