Authenticating K-Pop Albums Via Whosfan

Last week, I finally got myself PENTAGON’s WE:TH album, and it came with this pink card—the Hanteo Chart Authentication or Hanteo Aided Tracking System (HATS) Card, to be specific—which is used to authenticate your purchased album (sometimes, merch), so it can be counted on the charts and help your faves and ults grow. 

It was my first time getting a HATS card in my package, as I recently found a new online K-Pop store and they don’t do the authentication or registration for their customers, which is usually the case for most K-Pop shops. 

You probably already know it, but to the uninitiated, Hanteo is one of the two main music charts in South Korea (the other is Gaon), and it records the individual album sales from accredited stores and websites. With the HATS Card, which was introduced last year, fans are able to authenticate the album sale themselves in a few easy steps. 

It’s quite an experience, actually, and I think international K-pop fans should be familiar with the process. So in this post, I’ll share with you how to authenticate your album via Whosfan—a global K-Pop platform that reflects various activities of fans such as purchasing albums, watching videos, etc. into the artists’ value on the Hanteo Chart. 

How To Authenticate K-Pop Albums On Whosfan

1. Download the Whosfan app on your mobile device and create an account. It is available for both iOS and Android users.
   Download Whosfan here: iOS  |  Android
2. Once you’ve created an account, get your HATS Card and with a coin, lightly scratch off the bluish security film covering the unique QR code on the upper right corner of your card. Make sure not to use a sharp object to remove the film as this can damage the QR code. If that happens, you wouldn’t be able to authenticate your album anymore. 
3. Get your mobile device, open the Whosfan app, and tap on the QR code icon right next to the search icon. A camera will open.
4. Verify your HATS Card by scanning the unique QR code. 
5. If the camera successfully scans the QR code, you will then be asked to scan the barcode of your album. A pop-up message will appear if the barcode is confirmed. 
6. In the next step of the verification process, a picture of the album you purchased should appear. Below, you must fill out the necessary details being asked. These include your birth date and gender. When you’re done, hit “Complete authentication.”
7. After a few seconds, you must receive a confirmation that comes in the form of a thank you message. It will also show the date and time you authenticated your album—and that’s it!

Whosfan also uploaded an instructional video for fans to see the actual step-by-step procedure of authenticating albums:

One important thing to note when authenticating albums via Whosfan is that once you’ve used your HATS Card, you can no longer use it again for the same album or for another album. This is to ensure that album sales are being recorded fairly and accurately. 

If you encounter issues during or after the authentication process, you may try reaching out to Whosfan’s Customer Support. However, they may take A WHILE to reply to you. I found out that they are more responsive on Google Play or the App Store if you give them an honest rating of your app experience and write a short review with your query or complaint.

But if you made it through the entire authentication process with ease, you might be glad to know that there are other activities you can participate in on Whosfan. You can even earn points or credits to join various events if you’re into that kind of stuff. As for me, registering my purchase to support my faves is enough.