Karaoke Craze for 'Hakata no Shio' Cut Short as topia Halts Song Distribution
The suspension of the sound logo's distribution, coming just after it topped a weekly chart for the first time in JOYSOUND's 30-year history, shows how quickly a viral trend can be derailed by a music provider's decision.
Reporting from 1 source: Denfaminicogamer.
Virtual music app topia announced on July 17 that it will stop distributing the song 'Hakata no Shio' via its karaoke function, following a halt at the music provider. The song, a three-second sound logo from a salt brand commercial, had recently surged in karaoke popularity, taking first place on JOYSOUND's weekly ranking-the first time a sound logo achieved that. The halt disrupts the unexpected boom.
The halt went into effect around noon on July 17, the same day the announcement was made. The short notice came as the song, an approximately three-second jingle from a salt brand advertisement, had just become an unlikely karaoke hit. JOYSOUND operator Exing reported that the clip took first place in the karaoke service's weekly ranking for the first week of July 2026, the first time a sound logo had topped the chart in over 30 years of operation. The spike was attributed to the game-like scoring function encouraging high-score attempts on short songs. Topia's management apologized for the abrupt halt and asked users to wait for new additions.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Denfaminicogamer 楽曲「伯方の塩」がカラオケtopiaで配信停止。楽曲提供元での配信停止を受け7月17日よりストップ