Spotify targets South Korea in the first half of 2021

 

By Emmanuel Legrand

Spotify will be launching in South Korea, the world's sixth largest music market, in the first half of 2021, according to the music streaming service's Chief Freemium Business Officer Alex Norström, who announced the news in a blogpost. The streaming service said it wants to "help accelerate the growth of Korea’s entire music streaming ecosystem, benefiting artists, labels, distributors and fans."

  “We are excited about our upcoming launch in South Korea, a market recognised as an epicenter for music, culture and tech innovation,” said Norström, who added that the service will give Korean artists another platform to reach their local fans as well as an international audience and capitalise on the success of K-Pop.

  K-Pop tracks are now featured on more than 120 million Spotify playlists. The platform said that since it debuted its first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 billion minutes of the genre.

  Added Norström: “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.”