Spotify plans to launch in South Korea with a rollout expected in first half of 2021 according to a recent announcement by the streamer. Since Spotify debuted its first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 Bn minutes of the genre and added K-Pop tracks to more than 120 million playlists. In the last six years, the share of K-Pop listening on Spotify has increased by more than 2,000%.
Launching in South Korea will give Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 Bn playlists, as well as enable Korean artists to reach their local music fans and Spotify’s 320 million listeners worldwide. It will also connect listeners in Korea to artists and music from around the world.
Alex Norström, Chief Freemium Business Officer of Spotify, said “We are excited about our upcoming launch in South Korea, a market recognized as an epicentre for music, culture and tech innovation. Spotify has been a partner to the Korean music industry for many years now. We are proud to have been a part of the K-pop global story, showcasing the genre on our platform and enabling its discovery all over the world, from Asia to the US, South America, Europe and the Middle East. We’re looking forward to working with our valued local partners to uncover more Korean artists, and to connect them with fans in South Korea and all over the world.”
As one of the fastest-growing major music markets in the world and the sixth-largest music market globally (according to IFPI), South Korea is key for Spotify in its mission of giving a million artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.
Spotify’s K-pop genre hub encompasses a wide range of Korean music, including K-pop, hip-hop, indie, OST, R&B and more, as well as ‘RADAR Korea’, a playlist uncovering fresh K-music finds as a part of Spotify’s global emerging artist program. The hub is localized in over 64 countries, including Russia, India, Brazil and the UAE.
Some of the hottest K-Pop hits can be found on the K-Pop Daebak playlist.
