By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Online social-networking site Cyworld said that it has sold 300 million songs, adding 100 million in only one year.
SK Communications, the operator of the popular Web site, said Monday that the tally reached 300 million on Sunday morning after six years of service. The music sales are steadily increasing year by year despite the number of visitors to the site remaining stagnant since last year.
It took three and a half years to sell the first 100 million songs, and a year and a half for the next 100 million.
Music has become an inseparable part of young Koreans' online life, the company says.
``Cyworld Music is performing the role of real-time music media,'' said Jang Jun-young, leader of Cyworld's music business team. ``We will develop the music service as a communication tool within a social-networking service.''
Cyworld charges 500 won ($0.5) for a song, meaning it has garnered over 100 billion won from the music business since beginning the service in July 2002. It did not confirm the exact revenue from its music business.
The site has established a unique business model that distinguishes itself from other online music shops. While the iTunes Store and other popular online music shops sell MP3-format songs that can be played on portable gadgets as well as PCs, Cyworld is sticking to a ``streaming'' service, which means users should be connected to Cyworld Web site or SK's Nate online messenger program in order to listen to the music they have purchased.
The so-called BGM (background music) strategy has received much criticism but many saw it as an inevitable choice for SK Communication, considering the widespread piracy of music in South Korea.
The most sold song was ``Snow Flower'' from singer Park Hyo-shin. The top 15 songs and around 60 percent of total sales were Korean. Ranked in 16th place, ``Brave'' by Jennifer Lopez is the best-selling foreign song, followed by ``Life Is Cool'' by SweetBox.
The online music market has been expanding in and out of Korea, thanks to the widespread use of digital music formats such as MP3 and WAV.
Globally, Apple's iTunes Store boasts that it has sold more than 4 billion songs, with the world's largest music catalog of over 6 million songs. But Apple is not opening an iTunes Store in Korea, where its iPod music player is not selling as well as in other nations.