If albums are a record of ownership, streams are a record of repetition. In the first half of 2026, the power of K-pop proved itself once again — not in "how much it sold," but in "how often it was played back." The play button, once pressed, rarely stopped, and that repetition spread beyond Korea's domestic streaming charts to the weekly summits of the United States, Japan, and China. Looking back on the first half through Hanteo Chart's streaming data, K-pop was being played on infinite repeat across the world.

 

Hanteo Global, which publishes Hanteo Chart, unveiled Chapter 2 of its "Hanteo Rewind — 2026 First-Half Review" data report on the 23rd. Released under the title "K-Pop Revival," the report is composed of four chapters in total. Chapter 2, "On Infinite Repeat: The K-Pop That Got the World Hooked," analyzes the streaming data of K-pop artists.

 

► The "addictiveness" that ruled the streaming charts… from WOODZ to NMIXX

 

The No. 1 track by Hanteo Streaming Score in the first half of 2026 was WOODZ's "Drowning," which recorded a cumulative 1,761,242 points. It was followed by Hwasa's "Good Goodbye (with. Duomo)" at 1,729,734 points and HANRORO's "0+0" at 1,634,925 points, forming the upper tier. Davichi's "Time Capsule" (1,583,304 points) and NMIXX's "Blue Valentine" (1,540,414 points) came in fourth and fifth — a notable spread in which soloists and bands, ballads and dance tracks, evenly shared the top ranks.

 

What's intriguing is that the rankings for "score" and "play count" diverge. By cumulative play count alone, Hwasa led with 83.96 million plays, followed by NMIXX (63.87 million) and WOODZ (59.24 million). The fact that the score leader (WOODZ) and the streaming leader (Hwasa) differ signals that, rather than concentrating on a single track, listeners in the first half consumed multiple songs deeply and repeatedly. It was not "the sparkle of one song" but "playback that never stops" that sustained the first-half streaming market.

 

► Three maps drawn by the World Chart — the U.S., Japan, and China

 

The Hanteo World Chart crowns a weekly No. 1 across three divisions: the United States, Japan, and China. Looking across the 26 weeks of the first half, the tastes of the three countries diverged sharply.

 

The United States was a story of "HYBE Labels' dominance." HYBE artists claimed 17 of the 26 weeks (65%). Led by BTS (5 times) and ENHYPEN (4 times), along with CORTIS and LE SSERAFIM (2 each) and &TEAM, ILLIT, BOYNEXTDOOR, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (1 each), a total of eight teams reached the summit.

 

Japan was the opposite — a market where "the face changed every week." BTS was the only team to hold No. 1 for three or more consecutive weeks, and the only teams with any consecutive No. 1 streak were BTS and NCT JENO·JAEMIN. In exchange, the number of teams that reached No. 1 was the highest of the three countries at 18, a sign of how broadly and evenly a range of artists was loved.

 

China can be summed up as "unwavering support." Over the 26 weeks, only seven teams reached the top. CORTIS and BTS each took No. 1 seven times, aespa five times, and EXO three times — the same faces repeatedly defending the summit.

 

► BTS, a four-week consecutive "Triple Crown"

 

The three countries' differing maps overlapped in just one stretch. From the third week of March to the second week of April, BTS held No. 1 simultaneously across all three divisions — the U.S., Japan, and China — for four consecutive weeks. It was the only stretch in the first half where the summits of all three charts converged on a single team, a moment that reaffirmed through streaming the strength of a first-half K-pop scene that came to be called "the return of the kings."

 

► The K-pop rewind continues

 

What Hanteo Chart's first-half 2026 streaming data revealed was not the success of a single song, but the time and scale built by playback that never stops. On the domestic streaming charts, deep and repeated listening filled the upper ranks, while on the World Chart, three countries each played K-pop on infinite repeat in their own way. This record, completed atop the play button, now carries on into the next story.

Meanwhile, the "2026 First-Half Review" of Hanteo Chart's data report series "Hanteo Rewind" will go on to cover, in turn, K-pop artists' album sales, streaming performance and the chart resurgence of LISAENNE (RESENNE), and the revival of reunited artists.