Singer IU is now having a title of 'global music queen'.

On February 17, Spotify, the world's largest audio and music streaming platform, compiled the rankings of the most streaming artists and the most streaming music albums in commemoration of the first anniversary of the launch of Korea. 

Based on the aggregated results from February 1, 2021 to February 1, 2022, the 'Spotify 1st Anniversary' playlist, which contains the 50 most-streamed music tracks, was also newly established.

Among the playlists, IU's songs are 'Lilac', 'Celebrity', '8', 'Coin', and 'Nakka' as a collaboration with AKMU. According to Spotify, IU was named the most streamed female artist. In the top 5, BTS was the only Korean singer, and Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and The Weekend filled the rankings. IU's album 'Lilac' and her song 'Lilac' of the same name were ranked 4th on the album and 7th on the music chart.

On YouTube Music, her tvN 'Crash Landing on You' OST is gaining popularity again after the wedding announcement of actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin. Among the OSTs, 'I Give You My Heart' sung by IU is the representative. Melon's daily and weekly OST charts are also drawing a reverse running graph. 

The chart released by YouTube Music showed that IU's songs are gaining popularity in various countries following Korea, such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States. Asian media such as Indian version of Rolling Stone, the Philippines and Bangkok also published articles paying attention to IU's OST.

In the '11th 2022 Overseas Hallyu Survey Results Report' published by the Korea International Cultural Exchange Agency, IU was selected as the best singer in the Chinese market. In her overall ranking, IU also took 3rd place, drawing attention for her unrivaled performance as a solo female singer.

Hwanhee's agency, BT Entertainment, is firing back after serious fairness allegations were raised regarding the popular show ‘King of Singers Season 2’. They’ve denied all accusations and promised strong legal action for defamation.

On February 5th, the agency issued a statement through their official fan cafe, saying, “We want to correct the false claims.”

They explained that Hwanhee was initially approached to join the show in August 2024 by the production team. However, after checking with the event planning company, Dion Communication, they confirmed Hwanhee had no connection to the show or any related performances.

Despite this, the agency pointed out that certain media outlets published unverified articles, wrongly suggesting that Hwanhee’s involvement could compromise the fairness of the program.

BT Entertainment was quick to defend their artist, stressing the damage done to both Hwanhee's reputation and the agency itself due to these false claims. They added, "This has caused great harm to Hwanhee, who joined the program after careful consideration."

The statement didn’t stop there. BT Entertainment made it clear that they won’t stand for any further defamation. They said, “We are taking legal action against these baseless reports” and emphasized their commitment to protecting Hwanhee from any further harm.

They also reassured their fans, stating, “We will take swift action against any future misinformation to avoid any further harm to Hwanhee and his supporters.”

This controversy started after a media outlet raised concerns on January 23rd about Hwanhee’s participation in the show. The report claimed that BT Entertainment’s CEO, who is also a director at Dion Communication, had invested 1.1 billion KRW in the ‘King of Singers Season 2’ concert, leading to suspicions of favoritism towards certain contestants.

In the meantime, ‘King of Singers Season 2’ continues its intense competition, with Hwanhee making it to the semifinals. Fans are watching closely as he currently holds 1st place in the first round of the semifinals, cementing his position as a strong contender to represent Korea in the Korea-Japan King of Kings battle.

Source: [1]