THE South Korean pop star PSY, who pioneered the popular online video called "Gangnam Style," might seem like a flash in the pan. But the data tell a different story.

Since his infamous video was posted online in July, it has steadily grown and currently boasts a jaw-dropping 532m YouTube views (see chart). At roughly four minutes of video, that amounts to 36m hours of phantom horseback-riding dance moves, which equates to 4,100 continuous years.

The top demographic category of fans are girls aged 13 to 17, followed by boys of the same ages and then young men 18 to 24. However another fan imitating PSY's virtual gallop is a bit older: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. A fellow South Korean, Mr Ban showed off his Gangnam Style sashay this week when the pair met (caught on camera by Sky News).

The "K-pop" industry has been galloping ahead as well, as this paper reported in August ("Top of the K-pops"). It may herald an important shift in the make up of Asia's economies, as we noted earlier this month ("Now for the soft part") And if the data is anything to go by, we haven't heard the end of Gangnam Style yet. Yet PSY has competition: the Chinese rebel artist Ai Weiwei has just posted a video parody.