Gaon Chart was launched in February 2010 by the
Korea Music Content Association, under the sponsorship of the South Korean
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the aim to create a domestic national chart similar to the
Billboard charts of the United States and the
Oricon charts of Japan. The word
gaon, which means 'middle' or 'center' in Korean, was chosen to represent fairness and reliability. The chart started tracking sales from the beginning of that year. A small awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the launch ceremony on February 23, at the
Westin Chosun hotel in Seoul.
Girl group Girls' Generation was awarded the Top Artist of January,
boy band Super Junior won Best Album of 2009, and
Jo Kwon and
Ga-in's "We Fell In Love" won Best Weekly Mobile Ringtone. In February 2011, Gaon published online and offline album sales information for 2010, including a detailed breakdown of online chart data. This was the first time that offline album sales had been released since 2008 when the Music Industry Association of Korea stopped compiling data. On July 7, 2022, the Gaon Chart was rebranded as Circle Chart. A new Global K-pop Chart was introduced alongside the retention of existing charts. The
Gaon Chart Music Awards were also rebranded to the Circle Chart Awards. ==Music charts==