As the end of the year draws ever closer, the unavoidable year-end lists and rankings are starting to be released.
Korean media label Star News recently compiled a list of the most successful producers of 2011, based on the monthly Melon charts.
Instead of simply counting album sales, the list was based on how many songs each producer managed to land in the Melon monthly chart’s top 50 ranking from January to November of this year. A total of 315 tracks were qualified to be considered for the ranking.
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1. Yang Hyun Suk, YG Entertainment – 19 tracks
Hip-hop powerhouse YG Entertainment proudly claimed the title of the most successful producer this year, landing a total of 19 songs from groups such as Big Bang, 2NE1, and soloist Tablo.
Big Bang by itself took the credit for 13 out of the 19 songs, including unit group GD&TOP‘s “High High”(January, 3rd place), “Oh Yeah” (January, 2nd), “Don’t Go Home” (January, 27th), and “Knock Out” (January, 12th).
From its 4th full album, Big Bang scored hits with “Hands Up” (March, 12th place), “Tonight” (March, 1st), “Somebody to Love” (March, 14th), “What is Right” (March, 5th), “Cafe” (March, 6th), “Love Song” (April, 10th), and “Stupid Liar” (March, 36th).
2NE1 also had a decent year with 5 songs on Melon’s top 50 monthly charts. “Lonely” (May, 3rd), “I Am the Best” (July, 2nd), “Ugly” (August, 1st), “Hate You” (August, 3rd) and Park Bom‘s single “Don’t Cry” (May, 1st) all were successful tracks this year.
As for YG’s newest artist, hip-hop soloist Tablo had a solid start with his new label with a total of 3 songs. “Airbag” (October, 24th), “Tomorrow” (November, 16th), and “Bad” (November, 17th) all contributed to YG Entertainment’s success in 2011.
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2. Hong Seung Sung, Cube Entertainment – 17 tracks
Cube Entertainment under the leadership of Hong Seung Sung had a phenomenal year, rising to number two on the list past several long-standing producing companies. With groups such as B2ST, 4minute, HyunA, G.NA, A Pink, and Huh Gak all performing solidly or above, Cube Entertainment continued its success in 2011 with a grand total of 17 songs on Melon’s monthly top 50.
B2ST did their part with successful tracks such as “On Rainy Days” (June, 3rd), “Beautiful” (January, 34th), and “Fiction” (June, 5th), while labelmates 4minute also performed solidly with “Heart to Heart” (April, 11th) and “Mirror, Mirror” (April, 13th).
Counted separately was HyunA, who debuted as a soloist this year with “Bubble Pop” (July, 11th) and “A Bitter Day” (July, 31st). Regular solo artist G.NA also scored well with “Black & White” (February, 3rd) and “Top Girl” (September, 6th).
However, the real trump card for Cube was no other than rising star Huh Gak, who shot to stardom through the survival reality show ‘Superstar K3‘. He landed a total of six songs on the charts – “Always” (January, 29th), “Happy Me” (January, 30th), and “Because You’re Mine” (January, 43rd) maintained their high scores in January despite being released in November of 2010. Other than his holdovers, “Don’t Forget Me” (June, 6th), “Hello” (October, 1st), and “I Told You I Wanna Die” (November, 11th) all proved his mettle as one of this year’s “power rookies”.
Meanwhile, rookie group A Pink proved their strength as one of this year’s stand-out girl groups by placing “I Don’t Know” (May, 49th) on the list.
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3. Shin Won Soo, LOEN Entertainment – 11 tracks
LOEN Entertainment had a fantastic year, supported by the growing popularity of ‘nation’s little sister’IU, Sunny Hill with their new, edgier tone, and soloist ZIA. They had a total of 11 tracks on the end-of-year compilation.
IU accounted for six of them, including “Good Day” (January, 1st), “This is Awkward” (January, 23rd), “The First Goodbye That Night” (January, 48th), ”Merry Christmas in Advance” (January, 31st), “The Story Only I Didn’t Know” (March, 2nd), and “A Cruel Fairy Tale” (March, 31st).
Co-ed group Sunny Hill also scored highly with their comeback album, with both “Midnight Circus” (July, 20th) and “Pray” (August, 49th) enjoying success. Labelmate soloist ZIA also performed solidly, landing “Don’t Go” (January, 17th), “The Way I Am” (October, 10th), and “I Hope It’s You” (October, 26th) on the charts.
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4. Kim Kwang Soo, Core Contents Media – 10 tracks
As the home of T-ara, Davichi, Coed School, and the now-disbanded SeeYa, Core Contents Mediaalso had a remarkable year with 10 songs placing. T-ara was responsible for half of them, including “Why Are You Being Like This” (January, 13th) and “Yayaya” (January, 14th) as holdovers from the previous year’s album. This year, they scored big with “Roly Poly” (July, 5th), “Beautiful Girl” (February, 49th), and “Cry Cry” (November, 13th).
Davichi’s “One Person” (March, 49th), “Don’t Say Goodbye” (September, 2nd), and “Love My Love” (October, 11th) all performed solidly, as did Coed School’s sub-unit, 5dolls, with “Like This Like That” (June, 17th).
Meanwhile, former group SeeYa went out with a bang with “You’re Gorgeous to Me” (February, 23rd).
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5. Lee Soo Man, SM Entertainment – 8 tracks
Longtime powerhouse SM Entertainment also turned in a successful year, with artists such as SNSD, f(x), TVXQ, and Super Junior leading the ever-growing Hallyu Wave.
The girls of SNSD performed solidly with “The Boys” (November, 5th) and “Mr. Taxi” (November, 33rd), as well as Taeyeon‘s solo track “I Love You” (January, 10th) and her duet with The One, “Like a Star” (January, 21st).
f(x) also scored well with “Hot Summer” (July, 6th) and “Pinocchio” (May, 2nd), while TVXQ’s “Keep Your Head Down” (February, 16th) and Super Junior’s “Mr. Simple” (August, 6th) also placed highly.
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6. Park Jin Young (J.Y. Park), JYP Entertainment – 7 tracks
With the much-anticipated comeback of the Wonder Girls as well as the continuing success of 2PMand Miss A, JYP Entertainment also had much to celebrate.
Returning from the States, the Wonder Girls’ pent-up demand resulted in the group successfully charting with “Be My Baby” (November, 3rd), “G.N.O” (November, 43rd), “Girls Girls” (November, 44th), and “Me, In” (November, 32nd).
2PM with “Hands Up” (July, 4th) and Miss A with “Love Alone” (May, 26th) and “Goodbye Baby” (August, 2nd) also were decent hits, helping JYP to the conclusion of another strong year.
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7. Kim Shi Dae, Starship Entertainment – 7 tracks
Starship Entertainment, home of artists such as SISTAR and K.Will, also kept itself in the black with 7 tracks landing on Melon’s top 50 monthly charts. SISTAR tasted success with “How Dare You“ (January, 5th), “So Cool” (September, 5th), and “Hot Place” (June, 9th), while K.Will also proved his strength as a soloist with “Amazed” (February, 8th), “My Heart is Beating” (April, 5th), and “Real Love Song” (May, 33rd). SISTAR’s sub-unit, SISTAR19, also charted with “Ma Boy” (June, 9th).
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8. Han Sung Soo, PLEDIS Entertainment – 6 tracks
With its numerous sub-units, After School propelled PLEDIS Entertainment to a good year with its offspring Orange Caramel charting strongly with “Aing” (January, 32nd), “Bangkok City” (April, 8th), and “Shanghai Romance” (November, 24th), as well as their experimental After School Blue andAfter School Red sub-units with “In the Night Sky” (September, 48th) and “Wonder Boy” (August, 36th), respectively.
After School itself also pulled in a decent year, with last year’s Christmas single “Love Love Love” (January, 46th) and “Shampoo” (May, 5th) both performing strongly.