Spotify launches service in South Korea
Image: Spotify
Spotify said on Tuesday that it has launched its audio streaming service in South Korea.
The global audio streaming giant said South Korea was a "critical next step" in its global expansion as the sixth-largest music market in the world, and the home of global phenomena K-Pop.
Spotify debuted its first K-Pop playlist in 2014. The genre has been streamed more than 180 billion minutes and listeners have added K-Pop tracks to over 120 million playlists on Spotify, the company said. The amount of K-Pop played in the service has increased by 2,000% in the past six years, it added.
At launch, local consumers will have access to 60 million tracks and 4 billion playlists, the company said.
South Korean consumers will be offered two price plans -- one costing 10,900 won per month ($9.80) for one subscriber and another costing 16,350 won ($16.70) that can be used by two people.
Users can try the service for free for 7 days without credit card information and for 3 months with credit card information if they subscribe before the end of June.
Spotify will also offer new playlists made exclusively for the country made out of a range of Korean music including K-pop, hip hop, indie, and OST.
The audio streaming giant will compete with local music streaming services such as Melon and Genie Music, which are run by Kakao and KT, respectively, for market share in South Korea.