BTS are Spotify's most streamed South Korea artistes

SEOUL • South Korea's top 10 most streamed artistes on Spotify chalked up a total of 10.6 billion streams on the platform last year, the popular streaming service said last Thursday in its yearly wrap-up.

Boy band BTS were the most streamed South Korean artiste 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 last year.

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 the platform.

Singer IU topped the list of most-streamed South Korean female artistes and Agust D, better known as Suga of BTS, was the most-streamed male artiste last year.

Spotify also unveiled several up-and-coming South Korean rookie artistes on its platform.

Boy band Treasure topped the list of most-streamed rising South 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 South Korean artistes 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 South Korean listeners access to more than 60 million tracks and over four 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 artistes, fans and listeners," said Ms Dicus.

THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK