1. 151 million views
A Little Happiness (小幸运) - Hebe Tien (2015)
A Little Happiness was the first cpop song to break the 100 million view mark.
It was the theme song to the Taiwanese movie Our Times (我的小女时代) which was a box office hit.
The movie and song was quite popular in South Korea. It has been covered by numerous kpop idols including SNSD's Yoona and Jessica, VIXX's Ken, Apink, Lee Hi, IU, Song Joong Ki, Park Bogum (on piano). Due to the success of the film in South Korea, the male lead Darren Wang is also quite popular amongst Korean netizens.
Those Years (那些年) - Hu Xia (2011)
Another theme song to another Taiwanese box office hit, You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年我们一起追的女孩).
This song was one of the biggest hits for its time. I believe it was the first cpop song to break the 10 million view mark doing so within a couple of months. Back in 2011 this was a pretty big deal.
It also broke the record for the KKBOX singles daily chart remaining on top for 64 days.
This song has also been covered by kpop idols most recently VIXX and Seventeen.
You Exists in My Song (你的歌声里) - Wanting Qu (2012)
Due to the popularity of the song, it was selected to be the theme song for the Hong Kong movie Love in the Buff.
Wanting Qu is a Chinese born, Canadian based singer-songwriter.
Twilight - JJ Lin (2015)
Twilight was nominated for Best Song of the Year at the 27th Golden Melody Awards.
Let's Not Be Friends in the Future (以后被做朋友) - Eric Chou (2014)
The ending OST for the Taiwanese drama The Way We Were which was produced by and starring Ruby Lin.
Love Confession (告白气球) - Jay Chou (2016)
From Jay Chou's latest album, Jay Chou's Bedtimes Stories.
Rhythm of the Rain (听见下雨的声音) - Queen (2013)
Theme song to the Taiwanese movie Rhythm of the Rain which was directed by Vincent Fang, Jay Chou's long time lyricist.
Listen to Jay Chou's version here (36 million views)
What Brings Me to You (是什么让我遇见这样的你) - Ann Bai (2012)
The lead single in Ann Bai's debut album Catcher in the Rye.
Shouldn't Be (不该) - Jay Chou X aMei (2016)
Theme song for the Chinese drama Ice Fantasy.
10. 86 million views
Practice Love (修炼爱情) - JJ Lin (2013)
I wrote a post about this MV a couple of months ago. I don't think there's anything else for me to say.
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Those are the Top 10 most viewed c-pop songs on YouTube of all time as of July 2017.
THE BREAKDOWN:
- 7/9 singers are based in Taiwan (Wanting is based in Canada, Hu Xia in mainland China)
- 6/10 songs are theme songs
- 3/10 songs are from debut albums
- JJ Lin and Jay Chou are the only singers to appear multiple times (twice)
- All songs are solo acts (no bands/idol groups)
- Jay Chou and aMei are the only duet
100 MILLION VIEW CLUB:
- cpop 'only' has 5 songs in the 100 million view club compared to kpop which has 20-something
- 4/5 songs are theme songs
- 4/5 singers were based in Taiwan at the time (Hu Xia is from mainland China and is now currently based there)
- 2/5 are from very established singers, 2/5 are from debut albums and there's Hu Xia who fits neither category
THOUGHTS:
When seeing that cpop 'only' has 5 songs in the 100 million view club many will probably attribute it to YouTube being banned in China. While I'm sure this is a contributing factor, I personally do not think it is the main reason. I believe the reason is the lack of fandom culture.
cpop simply does not have a fandom culture like kpop especially as these singers are mature (ie. older) artistes not idols (and I mean no disrespect to kpop idols when I say that). The lack of fandom culture means that nobody really cares about the views on a MV. You won't see comments saying "let's get this to one million in 24 hours" etc...
I think the lack of fandom culture and care for MV views is really evident when you look at the breakdown of the songs are in the Top 5 and 10. 2/5, 3/10 songs are from debut albums. The only criteria to become one of the most viewed cpop songs is it has to be good/public friendly (once again no disrespect to kpop).
This all being said though, I am happy/excited to see these songs hit the 100 million view mark and maybe even 200 million view mark. It'll be interesting to see what the Top 10 cpop songs will be by the end of 2017. I started writing this post back in the beginning of July. During the time this post sat in the drafts each song received an extra 2 or 3 million views. While no song was bumped out of the Top 10, the order was rearranged. Based off the increased view count over that short 2 week period, I tentatively guesstimate that all 10 songs will have over 100 million views by the end of 2017.
I would love to hear your thoughts!
What do you think about the Top 10 cpop songs? Are you a fan of the music, the singer, the movie/drama?
Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts on the 100 million views club?
Do you think cpop will be able to break 200 million views by the end of 2017?
NOTES:
* to find the Top 10 cpop MV I went onto the official YouTube accounts of record labels. If you believe I have missed a MV please let me know.