The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Top Korean artists reach over 10.6b streams on Spotify in 2020

By Song Seung-hyun

Published : Jan. 9, 2021 - 16:01

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2020 Wrapped is Spotify’s annual look back on the year’s most popular artists and most-streamed songs. (Spotify) 2020 Wrapped is Spotify’s annual look back on the year’s most popular artists and most-streamed songs. (Spotify)
Korea’s top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify chalked up a total of 10.6 billion streams on the platform in 2020, the popular streaming service announced on Thursday in its yearly wrap up.

Boy band BTS was the most streamed Korean artist globally, followed by Blackpink, Twice, Stray Kids and Red Velvet, according to Spotify’s 2020 Wrapped data.

BTS also took the top spot in the category of the most-streamed global group in 2020.

2020 Wrapped, which compiles data from Jan. 1 to Nov. 15, is the operator’s annual flagship campaign that shows how its 320 million users around the world use their platform.

Singer IU topped the list of most-streamed Korean female artists, while Agust D, better known as Suga of BTS, was ranked the most-streamed male artist last year.

Spotify also unveiled several up-and-coming Korean rookie artists on its platform. Boy band Treasure topped the list of most-streamed rising Korean artists, followed by solo singer AleXa and singer-songwriter Bibi, data showed. Artist Secret Number and A.C.E also made it to the top 10.

“The 2020 Wrapped data is another testament to Spotify’s commitment to the global success of Korean artists and music, helping them connect with and reach a global audience,” Spotify’s vice president Marian Dicus said in a statement.

Spotify announced last month that it will launch its service in South Korea in the first half of this year. The Swedish firm plans to give Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists.

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

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)