SEOUL, OCT 9 – Streaming of K-pop music on the world’s biggest streaming platform, Spotify, has soared in the past five years as the genre’s global influence continues to grow, according to data released yesterday.
According to data from the streaming service, K-pop streaming will increase by 362 percent in the global market and 182 percent in the United States in 2023 compared to 2018.
In Southeast Asia, where K-pop is particularly popular, streaming increased by 423 percent in the same period, the news agency reported Yonhap.
The United States tops the list of countries with the largest number of K-pop listeners, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, India, Brazil, Malaysia and Canada.
“K-pop is now a global force, with its artists breaking through international charts such as Billboard,” said Park Jung-joo, Spotify’s Korea Music Team Leader during the company’s ‘K-pop Discussion Session’ event in Seoul.
K-pop, which started in Korea, is now connected to fans around the world through many artists.
Spotify’s Billions Club, which recognizes songs with over one billion streams, has received several K-pop songs, including Like Crazy by Jimin, member of BTS, Money by Lisa, member of BLACKPINK, and How You Like That by BLACKPINK. Song Seven by Jungkook, a member of BTS, hit one billion streams in just 108 days after its release, making it the fastest song in Spotify history to join the club.
Collaborations between K-pop artists and international artists have also contributed to the global rise of the genre, according to reports.
When Tomorrow X Together collaborated with Brazilian artist Anitta for a song Back for Moreand BLACKPINK’s Lisa collaborated with pop star Rosalia for the song New Womanboth songs saw a surge in first-time listeners for the K-pop artists in question, according to Spotify.
The service also noted that the growth of K-pop is not limited to famous artists such as BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids, but is also noticeable among new groups on the rise.
In the first half of 2024, four of the five most-streamed Korean songs internationally were from new groups, such as ILLIT who ranked first, Le Sserafim and Babymonster who ranked third through fifth.
Spotify’s data also shows an increase in the number of monthly listeners for rising K-pop groups. Babymonster recorded 7.5 million listeners, Kiss of Life with 6.7 million, while ILLIT attracted 10 million listeners globally. – Named
