Timeline of K-pop at Billboard

Timeline of K-pop at Billboard is a history of K-pop as recorded by Billboard, Billboard charts and Billboard K-Town, an online magazine column, presented by Billboard on its Billboard.com site, that reports on K-pop music; artists, concerts, chart information and news events.^[1]^[2] It is followed by later history at Timeline of K-pop at Billboard in the 2020s.

Current Billboard logo.

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
B	Jan+		K-pop in Billboard top 1999 songs (2019 selections)	#37, Lee Jung-hyun's "Wa", a techno introduction to K-pop and a classic of K-pop's first-generation; and #70, H.O.T.'s "I Yah!", a social protest song infused with "metal and hard rock elements" by the group that was considered the first K-pop idol group. Neither song charted on the Billboard charts.^[4]	US
O	Oct	9	1st use of term "K-pop" in Billboard magazine	In the article, "S. Korea To Allow Some Japanese Live Acts", a report from Seoul correspondent Cho Hyun-jin, in a quote of music producer Kim Chang-Hwan's.^[5]	US

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
IN	Mar	25	K-pop Concert Promoters Association formed	A 50-member trade body and lobby group established to modernize the local concert industry, no longer a "mom-and-pop shop", according to its first president, Lee Jong-hyeon of promoter Live Entertainment.^[6]	KR
IN	Nov	18	1st licensing deal between South Korean and Japanese record labels	S.M. Entertainment, home of K-pop artists H.O.T., S.E.S. and others, with Japan's biggest independent label Avex Trax, as South Korean government starts lifting ban on Japanese pop music (as of June 2000, restrictions on recording sales, with no Japanese lyrics, had been lifted).^[7]	KR

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
IN	Jun		Channel V Korea launched	A 24-hour music video channel, jointly owned by Hong Kong-based Asian TV network Channel V and South Korean record label DoReMi; a time of increased regional popularity for Korean pop and hip-hop groups in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.^[8]	O
IN	Jul	1	MTV Korea launched	A 24-hour MTV channel in South Korea, Asia's second-biggest music market; with Korean pop a priority, as local consumers were purchasing it at nearly four times the rate of international pop.^[9]	KR

Legend

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
IN	Feb	8	Declining album sales	S.M. Entertainment and the Recording Industry Association of Korea (RIAK) cite industry file sharing as a problem, while some industry insiders and fans account it to a stale product. After H.O.T.'s break-up, its splinter members, Kangta, Moon Hee-joon and jtL remained popular.^[11]	KR
C	May	17	Major Seoul concert against music piracy	Olympic Park concert called "F*, standing for "Freedom, Fever and Future", with 30,000 fans and including artists BoA, Kangta, g.o.d and Drunken Tiger; predecessor was the "Dream Concert", started in 1995.^[12]	KR
IN	June		Group creates music videos for mobile-phone service	JYP Entertainment's Noel partners with SK Telecom for the launch of their mobile multimedia EV-Do, including music videos, ring tones and other services.^[13]	KR

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
IN	Jun	11	Sales increase in Japan	Japanese record business now views "K-pop as a distinct musical genre", with last two years seeing increase in popularity.^[15]	O
IN	Aug	20	Digital music growth in South Korea	A live Seoul concert for solo artist Rain was made available to mobile phone operators.^[14]	KR

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
IN	Jun	27	MTV K launched in U.S.	A satellite TV channel for Korean Americans which went defunct in 2007. It was revamped in 2010 with major K-pop content and organized some K-pop concerts in New York City, but by May 2017, had ceased operations.^[16]^[17]	US
C	Aug	19	Major South Korean music festival debut	Pentaport Rock Festival 2006, first major rock festival since the "1999 Tri-port Festival" and which included K-pop, like Psy.^[18]^[19]	KR

T	M	D	Event	Details	L
MT	Apr		Artist debuts in Hollywood film	Rain, Speed Racer^[22]^[23]	US
MT	May	5	Artist guests on U.S. late-night talk show	Rain, The Colbert Report, May 5, 2008 episode. After being beaten by Rain for the Time 100 people's choice award several times, host Stephen Colbert challenged him to a dance-off which was aired on the show.^[24]^[25]	US
C	Dec	6	1st artist performs at iHeartRadio music event	BoA, Anaheim's KIIS-FM Jingle Ball concert, Honda Center.^[26]^[27]^[28]	US