Power of short-form videos sends 13-year-old K-pop song up the charts

“We wanted so badly to make the top 100 when we were promoting this song. I never imagined it would climb the charts all these years later…” Former BESTie member Uji shared her excitement on social media after “Love Options” entered the charts on Melon, Korea’s largest music streaming platform, 13 years after its release. Released in 2013 as the group’s second single, “Love Options” is enjoying the attention that eluded it during BESTie’s active years. In a music scene flooded with new releases, such belated breakthroughs are rare. Their unpredictability is also part of the appeal: There is no telling when an old song will catch on or what will set it off. “Love Options” entered Melon’s daily chart on Aug. 27 and climbed to No. 175 as of Sept. 7. It has also appeared on Apple Music’s Top 100 chart for Korea and YouTube Music’s weekly chart, while reaching No. 1 on music recognition service Shazam’s charts in both Korea and Vietnam. The spark was a fan-made short video that paired a performance of Hearts2Hearts’ “Lemon Tang” with “Love Options.” T