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A screenshot from the YouTube video for the kids song “Baby Shark” by content brand Pinkfong. (provided by Smart Study)

“Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo.”

Kid’s tune “Baby Shark” (called “The Shark Family” in South Korea) has calmed many a crying baby, and now it’s crossing national borders and generational boundaries to become a hit with people around the world. The English-language version of the song has charted on the US’ Billboard Hot 100 for the second week in a row. Though the song ranked 38th as of Jan. 17, down six spots from its first rank of 32nd on Jan. 9, this is the first time a Korean children’s song has broken into the Billboard top 100. Considering that previous South Korean songs on the Billboard charts have been by K-pop stars like Psy and BTS, it’s unusual for a kid’s song to do so.

“Baby Shark” is the most successful creation of Pinkfong, an educational content brand that has been dubbed “BTS for kids.” The song, lasting just 1 minute and 45 seconds, was posted to YouTube at the end of 2015. The next year, it became the most-watched video on YouTube in South Korea and also topped the children’s music charts on Melon and the country’s other top music streaming sites.

After the song became a hit, videos of K-pop idol groups such as Red Velvet and Twice putting their own spin on the song during their broadcasts were posted to video sharing platforms such as YouTube and VLive, bringing the song to the attention of viewers in Southeast Asia.

But the decisive moment came in 2017, when Hollywood actress Amanda Cerny appeared on an Indonesian television broadcast to dance to the tune. This sparked the hashtag #babysharkchallenge, with people imitating celebrities both on YouTube and on TikTok (a video sharing app in which users shoot videos and sync them to 15-second sections of songs), causing the song to spread rapidly through the English-speaking world. A variety of videos have been posted, including a creative shark costume party, a dance in front of an aquarium, ballerinas twirling to the song, and people playing with shark dolls.

“We sometimes take the lead in creating challenges, but the baby shark challenge spread on its own, and tons of videos are being posted for it,” said a spokesperson for TikTok.

The song’s popularity took off in the UK before the US. “Baby Shark” hit the UK Singles Chart (one of the world’s top-three music charts) in Aug. 2018 and remained in the top 40 for eight weeks in a row. Then on Jan. 4, it climbed to 6th place, its highest rank thus far. As “Baby Shark” made its way around the world, the song was featured on some of the US’ top talk shows, including the Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS and the Ellen DeGeneres Show on NBC, with hosts gushing that no song had ever brought the world together like this one.

“Baby Shark,” which draws its melody from American nursery rhymes, appears to owe its popularity to word of mouth and to its catchy chorus, which is easy to sing along to.

“The song had already been on the Billboard chart for kids’ songs for some time. One of the main reasons it’s gone up on the Hot 100 chart now is because the collation method has been different since last year,” said a spokesperson for Smart Study, the educational startup that’s behind Pinkfong.

Previously, rankings were determined by adding up how often tracks are downloaded and how many people listen to radio broadcasts in the US. Since last year, however, YouTube views were added to the total, which has impacted the rankings.

As of Jan. 17, the English-version of “Baby Shark” had more than 2.1 billion views on YouTube. Considering that the music video for “Gangnam Style” has racked up 3.2 billion views over the past seven years, “Baby Shark” has become quite a sensation in a short period of time.

“While ‘Gangnam Style’ and ‘Baby Shark’ represent different genres and styles of music, they’re quite similar in the way they’ve risen to popularity,” said Kim Yun-ha, a popular music critic. Kim notes “the fact that they have a catchy chorus, that they allow secondary creativity in the form of cover dances, and that they’ve spread through a hashtag.”

With Pinkfong and “Baby Shark” gaining worldwide popularity, SmartStudy has been moving aggressively to diversify its business operations. In addition to its character business, it’s expanding into books, performances, TV animation and film. It’s “sound books” have firmly established themselves in the domestic market, selling 250,000 copies in the first year since their release, and the kids’ musical “Pinkfong and the Shark Family” has enjoyed smooth sailing since its release in 2017, selling 97% of available seats in its first year. This was also the first Korean kids’ musical to be exported to Malaysia and Singapore last year. In May and July of this year, a “Pinkfong concert” will even be held at classical performance halls. Once a channel has been selected, Pinkfong cartoons are also expected to appear, likely in the middle of this year.

“Baby Shark” may be on top of the world’s music charts for now, but how long can it remain there?

“This didn’t appear overnight, so the song will probably stay on the Billboard charts for a few more weeks. Music content creators who want to get some traction on the Billboard singles chart can look to ‘Gangnam Style’ and ‘Baby Shark’ for answers,” said Kim, the music critic.

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]