The investigation continues for accusations of chart manipulation for Nilo’s song “Pass.”

On July 17, a source from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism revealed that the government agency is currently investigating. “We have requested the relevant data from the service provider and are in the stage of searching for a big data expert.”

In April, Nilo’s agency Limez Entertainment brought data to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism requesting to get rid of the accusations.

The source from the government agency shared in the latest statement, “The data brought from Nilo’s side at the time consisted of his own articles and marketing materials. We saw it as insufficient data to determine whether there was chart manipulation, so we sent a request to Melon for additional data.”

The statement continues, “To understand how the music service purchases were carried out, we requested user information data from Melon. Melon’s response is that it will take over a month [to provide the data], so we are waiting.”

“It is the first time that there is a digital chart manipulation controversy of this form, so we are experiencing difficulties in analyzing the data. We will figure out whether it is chart manipulation or not through a private enterprise that specializes in big data,” the source concludes.

The government agency is also struggling as public institutions like the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and the Korea Internet & Security Agency have denied requests to provide streaming data and analyses due to sensitivity of the issue and other reasons. Cooperation cannot be forced as the institutions are not affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Nilo’s “Pass” was first swept up in chart manipulation accusations in April as it suddenly rose to first place late at night when idol groups with large fandoms generally dominate digital charts. The Korea Management Federation (KMF) sent an official request to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in late April for an investigation.

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