A song created using generative music artificial intelligence has entered the Top 100 and daily charts of Melon, South Korea's leading music streaming platform.

Landing a spot on this chart, which is known to be a high hurdle even for popular K-pop idol groups, is evaluated as a new milestone showing AI making its way into the South Korean popular music scene.

'Forest of the Mind,' released by Chosun Hip-Hop last May, peaked at No. 89 on Melon's Top 100 and No. 99 on its daily chart. AI was utilized in both the composition and vocals of the song.

The track was originally created by Chosun Hip-Hop to submit to an AI music video contest.

Chosun Hip-Hop stated that after writing the lyrics themselves, they created 'Forest of the Mind' simply by entering prompts into the generative music AI 'Suno' for composition.

Notably, listeners in their 40s account for the largest share of 'Forest of the Mind' listeners on Melon at 38%.

This is significantly higher than those in their 20s or 10s, who are typically considered the primary consumer base for K-pop.

In an interview with a media outlet, Chosun Hip-Hop highlighted the advantages of using AI-generated music, saying, "I heard that because large agencies mainly produce idol music, there aren't many songs suitable for the older generation to listen to." They added, "With AI utilization, production costs are almost nonexistent, allowing for various attempts that can resonate across multiple generations at a low cost."

Chosun Hip-Hop runs a cafe and initially used AI to promote their business. After discovering the existence of generative music AI, they began uploading songs they created using AI to their YouTube channel as a hobby starting early this year.

(Photo provided by Chosun Hip-Hop, Yonhap News)