Spotify celebrates a decade of K-Pop on the platform with ENHYPEN, STAYC and more

Music-streaming platform Spotify is celebrating a decade of bringing K-Pop music to the world by launching a special series of Spotify Singles centred around the theme "My First K-Pop Crush". 

Spotify Singles is a program to provide artists with the opportunity to re-record one of their existing songs in a fresh new way, as well as cover a song of their choice by one of their own musical heroes. 

Titled "K-Pop ON! First Crush", the Singles campaign will be headlined by bands ENHYPEN, SHOWNU X HYUNGWON and STAYC. 

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"K-Pop ON! First Crush" will also feature covers of songs by the sunbaes (senior artists) who first fueled the global love for K-Pop. 

The campaign aims to call K-Pop fans around the world to join in the celebration of a shared passion for the genre and the artists who started it all. 

"K-Pop ON! First Crush" is set to drop exclusively on Spotify every two weeks, starting with ENHYPEN's release on 16 February. 

It will later launch SHOWNU x HYUNGWON's Singles playlist on 29 February, followed by STAYC's release on 15 March. 

In addition to the Singles playlist, fans can also look forward to a series of exclusive bonus content on Spotify's K-Pop ON! video podcast and YouTube channels. 

Some of these exclusive bonus content includes behind-the-scenes content where fans can unpack the storis of the performing artists' first K-pop crushes, the significance behind their song selection and how the original artists inspired their journey in K-Pop. 

“'Spotify's K-Pop ON! First Crush' campaign is also a powerful expression of how K-Pop touches lives, spreads positivity, and unites listeners regardless of where they are from or the language they speak,” said Jungjoo Park, head of music Korea, Spotify.

Spotify launched its first K-Pop ON! Singles playlist in 2014. Since then, it has been saved by over 5.3 million users worldwide and amassed billions of streams for Korean artists. 

In 2015 alone, the yearly streams from the K-Pop ON! playlist saw a 5647% increase with top markets such as the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Germany in the top 10 list. This also reflects a global demand for the genre.

Spotify expanded its K-Pop ON! franchise with the launch of K-Pop ON! video podcast and YouTube channels in 2023.

The rising popularity of K-Pop music and its artist is not entirely new. Outside of music, plenty of K-pop artists have become global brand ambassadors for fashion houses, beauty and tech. 

Most recently, British technology company Dyson appointed Jisoo, a member of the Korean girl group BLACKPINK, as its ambassador. 

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a Dyson spokesperson said the partnership is set to start on 4 December 2023 and will continue in 2024.  

Jisoo was also made a global brand ambassador for Dior. 

Aside from Jisoo, BLACKPINK members Jennie, Lisa and Rosé have scored their own brand ambassadorship too.

Jennie has been a long-time ambassador for luxury fashion house Chanel, while Lisa is global ambassador for Celine. Rosé, on the other hand, made history in the fashion industry as the first-ever global brand ambassador of Yves Saint Laurent in 59 years. 

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