Billboard will start counting Melon streams toward three of its music charts Wednesday, the Korean music streaming service said the same day.

Melon signed a deal with Luminate, the data company responsible for providing music data to Billboard, for the streaming reflections.

Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart, Global 200 and Global Excl. US are the three charts that will reflect Melon’s streaming data. The two main Billboard charts, Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 are not included.
“Through reflecting data from Melon, with 5 million paid subscription users, K-pop’s position on Billboard charts will be strengthened,” Melon said.

Melon, with more than 4.5 million monthly mobile users, is Korea’s second most popular music streaming service, according to data research company WiseApp and Wise Retail on Wednesday.

Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart tracks digital downloads and online streaming in Korea. Billboard Global 200 takes account of streaming and album sales of more than 200 countries worldwide, including the United States, and Billboard Global Excl. US is Billboard’s global chart that excludes data from the U.S. market.

Only music data from non-Korean music services were counted on Billboard’s charts.

Music streaming service FLO, operated by Dreamus, also announced in May that its music streaming data will count toward same three Billboard charts. The exact dates have not been announced.

BY YONG-JUN CHO [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]