# Chart manipulation

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chart_manipulation.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart_manipulation
> Source revision: 1354104010
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Music fraud method}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}}
'''Chart manipulation''' are methods of artificially inflating the numbers of streams, views, or sales of released music to appear higher in the rankings of [music charts](/source/Record_chart) such as the [Billboard Hot 100](/source/Billboard_Hot_100).

Merchandise and concert ticket sales were previously used to manipulate rankings as a digital copies of records would be sold together with items. In October 2020, [Billboard](/source/Billboard_charts) banned the practice, requiring music to be sold separately.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eggertsen |first=Chris |date=2020-07-13 |title=Billboard Announces New Chart Rules: No More Merch & Ticket Bundles |url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/billboard-new-chart-rules-no-more-merch-ticket-bundles/ |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref> Merch sales will continue to be reflected on [Artist 100](/source/Artist_100).

The [International Federation of the Phonographic Industry](/source/International_Federation_of_the_Phonographic_Industry) maintains the "Anti-Stream Manipulation Code of Best Practice", an industry-wide agreement between labels, distributors, and streaming platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2021 |title=Anti-stream manipulation code |url=https://www.ifpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Anti-stream-manipulation-code_pdf-version-v041021.pdf |website=www.ifpi.org}}</ref> It asks streaming providers to mitigate and report stream manipulation.

== In Korea ==
In Korean, this is called 사재기 (sajaegi), literally "record hoarding".

In 2024, 11 officials of entertainment companies and public relations firms where indicted by the [Seoul Central District Prosecutor](/source/Seoul_Central_District_Court) of chart manipulating the rankings of songs by [trot](/source/Trot_(music)) singers. The prosecutors claimed the individuals streamed 15 songs a total of 1,727,985 times across 500 [virtual PCs](/source/Virtual_machine), bulk-purchased [IP address](/source/IP_address)es, and illegally obtained personal information.<ref>{{Cite news |last=김 |first=태인 |title='음원 사재기'로 순위 조작…전 연예기획사 대표 등 11명 기소 |url=https://news.jtbc.co.kr/article/NB12197252}}</ref>

==References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Media manipulation
Category:Record charts

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chart manipulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart_manipulation) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart_manipulation?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.