Music programs of South Korea are broadcast weekly, with different artists performing on the shows to promote their music.
South Korea's largest broadcasting companies each have their own show, which are broadcast on different channels. SBS has Inkigayo, KBS has Music Bank, MBC has Show! Music Core (also known simply as Music Core), Mnet has M Countdown, MBC M has Show Champion and SBS MTV has The Show.
Music programs
Current
Inkigayo or The Music Trend (previously known as SBS Popular Song) airs on SBS every Sunday. It is currently hosted by actress Park Ji-hu, BoyNextDoor's Woonhak, and Tomorrow X Together's Yeonjun. The Show airs on SBS MTV every Tuesday. It is currently hosted by Ateez's Yeosang, WayV's Xiaojun, and Tempest's Hyeong-seop. Show Champion airs on MBC M every Wednesday. It is currently hosted by Moon Sua and Tsuki from Billlie and Woo!ah!'s Nana. M Countdown airs on Mnet every Thursday. It is currently hosted by (G)I-dle's Cho Mi-yeon and Zerobaseone’s Sung Han-bin Music Bank airs on KBS2 and KBS World every Friday. It is currently hosted by actor Lee Chae-min and Le Sserafim's Eunchae. Music Universe K-909 airs on JTBC every Saturday. It is currently hosted by soloist BoA. Virtual Gayo Top 10 (formerly known as Top 10 Songs) airs on KBS World every Friday. It is currently hosted by AleXa. It was previously aired on KBS from February 10, 1981 to February 11, 1998. It was revived in March 25, 2022. Its popularity in South Korea was unrivaled, since it was airing at a time when cable television and the internet wasn't as developed. It had a song ranking system similar to Music Bank which replaced Bravo New Generation, a music program originally intended to be the show's replacement but stopped airing only after a few months. Show! Music Core airs on MBC every Saturday. It is currently hosted by NCT's Jungwoo, Stray Kids' Lee Know & Nmixx's Sullyoon. Simply K-Pop airs on Arirang TV every Friday. It is the only South Korean music program that has never had a chart system. It is also the only English-language South Korean music show. It is currently hosted by Lee Dae-hwi from AB6IX.
Past music programs
Show Network was a song ranking program which aired on MBC from October 30, 1989, to November 9, 1990, when the station decided to change its name to a Korean one, which eventually became 여러분의 인기가요, or Everyone's Popular Songs. Everyone's Popular Songs aired on MBC from November 9, 1990, to April 30, 1993. It was replaced by Choice! Most Popular Songs which ended in the same year. Live TV Gayo 20 replaced Inkigayo or SBS Popular Song in 1994 and aired until 1998, when SBS revived Inkigayo. Popular Songs Best 50 began airing on MBC on April 21, 1995, and lasted until January 17, 1998, when it was cancelled due to high production cost caused by the IMF crisis in 1997. was the longest-running music program aired on the cable music channel KMTV Asia for 13 years (from March 11, 1995, to May 29, 2008). Live Young Times was a music show with a chart system that aired on MBC from January to April 1998, but was replaced by Music Camp. Music Camp was a music program that aired on MBC, but was cancelled after an incident that was broadcast live where two band members exposed their genitalia during a segment of the show. K-PopCon was a music program that aired on Channel A between December 2011 and March 2012. Music on Top was a music program that aired on JTBC, but was cancelled due to low ratings. Like most music programs, it also had a chart system that awarded music show wins to artists every week. Pops in Seoul was a music program that aired on Arirang TV from 1998 to March 31, 2021. The show never had a chart system.
Performances
Artists commonly pre-record performances and appear live on the show for interviews and the ending of the show, where the week's winning artist is announced. For all music shows, artists accumulate points from the previous week for them to be nominated for first place in the next.
They also use music programs to promote. 'Debut stage' is the term used for artists who perform on the shows for the first time, usually serving as their first live performance when they debut as an artist. On the other hand, a 'comeback stage' is the term used for the first performance of the artist on the shows with their new songs and the start of a new promotional cycle, after the end of their debut cycle.