Spotify made its free tier available to listeners in South Korea on Wednesday (October 9). When the streaming service launched in the country in 2021, it only made the subscription option available for music lovers.
“We're opening the door for every Korean listener to start discovering and connecting to millions of songs and podcasts with our technology and services.” Gautam Talwargeneral manager, Asia Pacific, for Spotify, said in a statement. This “means huge potential for new audiences, discoverability and ultimately more revenue for artists.”
South Korea was the seventh largest music market in the world in 2022, according to the IFPI, after the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, China and France. “Countries like China and South Korea have a significant increase in fans paying for streaming.” Shridhar SubramaniamSony Music's president of corporate strategy and market development, Asia and Middle East, told IFPI. “The paid ecosystem is established and now the challenge is to look at the value of music on streaming and social media platforms.”
Talwar said South Korean artists' average monthly streams on Spotify now exceed 5.8 billion. That's “over 70% growth since Spotify launched in South Korea three years ago — spanning K-Pop to Hip-hop, Indie and more — with markets including the United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, India, South Korea and Taiwan among the top streamers. Talwar added. “We are committed to growing and expanding the reach of artists worldwide, and the launch of our Free to Market will add even more Korean listeners to that mix.”
Spotify added 7 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2024, beating its forecasts. It now has more than 626 million total monthly active users and 246 million subscribers.
