Korean songs were temporarily removed from Spotify in early 2021 due to a failed licensing renewal with South Korean distributor Kakao M (now Kakao Entertainment), affecting many popular artists like IU, Monsta X, and Epik High, though many have since returned after a new deal was reached, while ongoing licensing issues and regional blocks can still affect availability.
Best of Korean OSTs (OST 명곡 베스트) | Spotify Playlist.
Its Just Too Expensive (in Korea)
These telecommunication companies actually give you a discount on music streaming apps if you are using their services. For example, if you are using KT or LG, you can get a pretty good deal for the music app 'Genie'. Spotify doesn't have any of these partnerships.
Spotify removes songs primarily due to licensing issues with rights holders (labels, publishers), as deals expire or change, but also for copyright infringement (unlicensed samples, features) and streaming fraud (artificial streams/bots), with artists' marketing partners often inadvertently causing the latter, leading to takedowns to protect platform integrity and revenue, notes iGroove, The Conversation, this YouTube video, and this Reddit post.
Go to Edit profile. Scroll down to Country or region and select your new one from the dropdown list. Note: Your new country or region only shows when you're actually there. Click Save profile.
Spotify will be available in South Korea in the first half of 2021. With this expansion, South Korea will now have access to Spotify's 60 million tracks and 4 billion playlists. This is especially important due to the surge of K-Pop, specifically in Asian territories.
People are leaving Spotify due to low artist payouts, controversies surrounding CEO Daniel Ek's investments in AI and military tech (Helsing), concerns about algorithmic curation devaluing music, issues with platform practices like "fake artists," and a desire for more direct artist support, with some listeners and musicians shifting to platforms like Bandcamp or purchasing music directly to support creators better.
By Spotify's own admission, the growth in revenue from music streaming has resulted in a deluge of AI-generated content, with 75 million spam tracks being removed over 12 months in 2024-25.
Sometimes content like songs or entire albums might become unavailable in certain countries due to licensing issues or requests by the rights holders. In which cases some songs will appear grayed out and unplayable.
YouTube Music, now the top music streaming platform in South Korea, had 9.79 million monthly users in April. The service is bundled with YouTube Premium, which offers ad-free viewing for 10,000 won a month and includes music streaming at no extra cost.
Where Is Spotify Blocked? Spotify is currently unavailable in Afghanistan, CAR, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Yemen.
Most Streamed Korean/k-pop boy groups on Spotify in 2024; #1 #BTS – 2.008 BILLION 🥇👑 #2 Stray kids – 1.094B #3 Seventeen – 789M #4 Enhypen – 661M #kpop_unity_bd.
Holland is known as "the first openly gay K-pop idol". He is an only child. His parents found out about his sexuality after he discussed it in an interview.
BTS has achieved the most number-one songs among all male groups to enter the K-pop Hot 100 with eight, and holds the all-time record for most weeks at number one among all artists and groups with a cumulative total of 49 weeks.
Yes, Christians can listen to K-pop, but it depends on individual discernment, as opinions vary from it being perfectly fine to problematic, focusing on lyrics, themes, and avoiding obsession or idolatry, with many Christians enjoying it in moderation while some avoid certain songs or content due to spiritual concerns. The key is personal conviction, ensuring music doesn't hinder faith, glorify sin, or become a replacement for God, and there are even devout Christian K-pop artists.
The popular listening platform Spotify has dominated the streaming industry for years. But there have been recent calls to boycott the platform over controversies surrounding issues like artist compensation, its CEO and ICE ads.
Bad Bunny is once again Spotify's Global Top Artist
For the fourth time, after claiming the title in 2020, 2021, and 2022, our users have crowned Bad Bunny Spotify's top artist globally, with 19.8 billion streams this year. He also clinched the global top album of 2025 with DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.
Financial reports reveal that Spotify's revenue growth has slowed considerably, and in some quarters, experienced a stagnation or slight decline compared to previous years. Stock valuations reflect investor concerns about its future prospects, leading to a decrease in market capitalization.
On 3 November 2014, Swift removed her discography from Spotify. Swift had previously delayed the streaming of her 2012 album Red. Swift stated: "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.
'Algorithmic fatigue' Spotify cut costs to turn a profit. Now subscribers are being flooded with music they hate. The music app I've been using for the last 14 years recently decided that I'm obsessed with rainstorms.
Here are all the groups who have decided to boycott the platform.
K-Pop ON! (온) Spotify Playlist.
Melon is South Korea's largest music subscription service, with over 28 million users. Melon is the most popular music streaming service in South Korea.
Users in South Korea can now sign-up for a free account to access Spotify's playlists, podcasts, and daily mix among others and can further choose to upgrade to premium on-demand, ad-free music.