BTS sweeps Spotify's most-streamed K-pop list in 2020

South Korean artists were clearly on the rise last year, with the top 10 most-streamed Korean artists pulling in over a combined 10.6 billion streams on Spotify, according to a company press release on Jan. 7.

Spotify is the world's largest music streaming service with a community of more than 320 million users across 92 markets.

Seven-member boy band sensation BTS, which has been on a record-breaking streak, earned the honor of being the most-streamed Korean artist globally and the most-streamed global group in 2020.

Blackpink, Twice, Stray Kids and Red Velvet were also among the top five most-streamed Korean groups, followed by EXO, Seventeen, IU, NCT127, and (G)I-DLE, based on Spotify's 2020 Wrapped data from January to Nov. 15 of 2020.

The whopping number of streams represent Korean artists’ surging popularity in the global entertainment market, as a wide range of Korean artists can connect with hundreds of millions of Spotify listeners globally.

According to 2020 Wrapped, IU was the most-streamed Korean female solo artist and Agust D was the most-streamed Korean male solo artist in 2020.

Also, Zico's single Any Song and Baekhyun's solo track Candy were the most-streamed Korean Hip Hop and R&B tracks, respectively, while the popular drama Itaewon Class soundtrack Sweet Night sung by BTS member V was the most-streamed Korean OST.

“The 2020 Wrapped data is another testament to Spotify’s commitment to the global success of Korean artists and music,” said Marian Dicus, the vice president and global co-head of music at Spotify.

“With our upcoming launch in Korea, we are hoping to accelerate the growth of Korea’s entire music streaming ecosystem, ultimately benefiting artists, listeners and fans," Dicus said.

Last month, Spotify announced plans to launch its services in Korea in the first half of this year. The global streaming service will offer listeners in Korea access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists. 


Edited by Danbee Lee