 |
| ▲ Park Jung-joo, Head of Music at Spotify Korea, speaks during the "Spotify Soundcheck" media event held in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on June 19, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- K-pop has seen a dramatic rise in global popularity, with streaming on the global music platform Spotify increasing more than 470 times over the past decade.
From 2014 to 2024, K-pop streaming from grew by 470 times globally, according to Spotify on Thursday.
In Southeast Asia, K-pop streams increased by an average of 128 percent per year during that period, while in the U.S., annual growth averaged 90 percent.
Thanks to this growth, revenue generated by Korean artists through Spotify last year more than tripled compared to 2019.
At the "Spotify Soundcheck" media event held in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Park Jung-joo, Head of Music at Spotify Korea, shared streaming data related to the Korean market and said, “Spotify is working to build an ecosystem where artists can expand their fandoms and be fairly compensated.”
 |
| ▲ This data is provided by Spotify. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
"Spotify Soundcheck" was held to reflect on the platform’s impact on the Korean music industry since its official launch in Korea in 2021.
Park explained that Spotify is promoting Korean artists globally through various methods, including its playlist features, the "RADAR" program that highlights emerging artists, and popup stores.
According to statistics, music fans around the world discovered Korean artists’ music on Spotify more than 2 billion times last year. In total, Korean music was streamed for over 9.7 million hours on the platform in 2023. By country, the top listeners were in the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Park stated, “Spotify offers immersive experiences to connect artists and fans, beyond just streaming,” and added, “Offline events held with groups like SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN have led to noticeable increases in fandom growth and streaming numbers.”
She also highlighted that Korean users tend to engage with music more actively and independently.
“Korean users have created more playlists than any other country,” Park noted. “They curate and share playlists on their own, using the service in a very proactive way.”
The surge in streaming is directly benefiting artists financially. Spotify noted that it paid out around $10 billion (approx. 13.7 trillion KRW) globally to artists last year, contributing to mutual growth between the platform and creators.
“Spotify is the platform that pays the most revenue to artists,” said Park. “That income goes directly to the artists, and the ecosystem we’ve built is creating real value.”
At the event, renowned producer and rapper Lil Moshpit (real name Lee Hwi-min) appeared to talk about her experience using Spotify. Last year, he released the track "Ugly" through the "Spotify Singles" project.
“Spotify is a platform that supports artists in planning for their future,” she said. “The 'Singles' project is aimed at global listeners, which makes it highly motivating for artists.”
 |
| ▲ Producer and rapper Lil Moshpit (R) attends the "Spotify Soundcheck" media event held in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on June 19, 2025, to talk about her experience using Spotify. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Spotify announced that it will continue to support Korean artists’ expansion into international markets.
Park concluded, “Spotify is not just forming agreements with artists — we’re working to expand their fandoms and cultural influence around the world.”
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
