TV/Film

Trending on Billboard

Count pop radio as the latest realm that Gwi-Ma can’t conquer.

The KPop Demon Hunters underworld villain proves no match for the approximately 150 radio stations that have lifted HUNTR/X to No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, where the protagonist trio of Netflix’s record-breaking animated film reigns with its anthem “Golden.”

The song, on Visva/Republic, rises two spots to No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart dated Nov. 8, up 9% in plays week-over-week Oct. 24-30. (Stations are monitored by Mediabase, with data provided to Billboard by Luminate.)

“‘Golden’ has truly become a defining pop moment, an instant lean-in, turn-it-up track,” says Alex Tear, vp of music programming for SiriusXM and Pandora. SiriusXM’s Hits 1, which reports to the Pop Airplay tally, has played the song more than 1,100 times since June.

Thanks to the movie’s wide reach, “There’s that immediate familiarity and big emotion that just hits,” Tear says of “Golden.” “It’s become part of our channel’s DNA — vibrant, global and built for pop radio.”

Mark Adams, vp of pop programming for iHeartMedia and program director of the chain’s flagship WHTZ (Z100) New York, became a fan of KPop Demon Hunters a day after its June 20 release. “My algorithm knows me well,” he says. “I watched it that Saturday morning and just kind of immediately got it. I thought the animation was terrific. I thought the music was extraordinarily catchy.”

Adams says that he didn’t hesitate when considering the pop radio appeal of “Golden,” whose lyrics cite certain plot points, which could either confuse listeners not versed in the film or draw them in further if they’re superfans (or, on Oct. 31, KPop candy hunters). “When I’m listening to tunes,” Adams muses, “I’m just listening — is there a hook? Is it a pop cultural moment?”

Adams shares that he was so taken by the film after watching it “that Monday I shared with the national team: ‘Hey guys, you may not have heard about this yet, but there’s this movie on Netflix and the songs are amazing.’ That first week on Z100, we spiked ‘Golden’ in. It wasn’t in heavy rotation, but a few times, as well as [HUNTR/X’s] ‘How It’s Done.’ ”

With Pop Airplay panelist WHTZ now more than 600 plays into “Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters songs “are strong on their own merit,” Adams says. “It wasn’t a really difficult push to convince programmers to realize that this is a real thing.”

Despite the movie’s immediate and enduring success, Adams notes that radio still serves a key role in helping ingrain hits in the pop consciousness. “I think it’s a little complicated,” he says. “Even as big a platform as Netflix is, you’re still dealing with that audience, and that isn’t everyone. That helps lay the groundwork for music discovery, but it still takes weeks and months of committed, consistent airplay to really break things to the masses.”

Plus, says Adams, “people crave human connection, having somebody say, ‘Hey, this is a song you should be paying attention to.’ People feel like they’re part of a community and they want to be part of that shared pop cultural moment. I think that’s what we excel at.”

Meanwhile, Hits 1 has played other KPop Demon Hunters songs, including Saja Boys’ “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” (fine, Gwi-Ma gets that), furthering the connection between the film and pop radio. “Golden” spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100 from mid-August through mid-October, while “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” each hit the chart’s top five.

“We’ve been intentional about giving space to songs that cross borders and connect with our audience,” Tear says. “These tracks feel natural next to Taylor Swift, Alex Warren or Olivia Dean. We’re always looking for that global pop conversation. Listeners don’t hear boundaries, they just hear great songs.”