Spotify Lists Top 10 Most-streamed K-pop Artists
Spotify - the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service - released its annual Wrapped campaign this year, unveiling a series of data on how fans worldwide listened this year. And as part of the 2022 Wrapped, Spotify also disclosed how the world listened to the K-pop genre specifically this year.
Demonstrating the continued global growth and success of the internationally celebrated genre, Spotify revealed that the top 10 most-streamed K-pop artists alone reached more than 16.5 billion streams this year, which is an increase by 56% and 20% compared to the same data from 2020 and 2021 Wrapped, respectively. While ENHYPEN and (G)I-DLE newly joined the top 10 list this year, BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Stray Kids kept their places from first to fourth spots in order, in addition to ITZY and Red Velvet remaining on the eighth and tenth spots, respectively. SEVENTEEN, who took seventh place on the list last year, also moved up to number five, followed by TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Spotify’s top 10 K-pop tracks this year have been dominated by BTS and BLACKPINK, including their members’ solo projects, who took six and three spots of the list this year, respectively. BTS’ “Dynamite” took the first place on the list in 2022, only switching places with “Butter,” the most-streamed K-pop song in 2021 Wrapped. IVE’s “LOVE DIVE” took the sixth place to become the one and only track out of the top 10 that was not participated by top two acts.
As the fourth-generation K-pop acts have been expanding their presence in the genre, seven of the representative fourth-generation K-pop girl groups who debuted since 2018 - ITZY, (G)I-DLE, aespa, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, and STAYC - occupied the top 10 list of female K-pop groups. BLACKPINK, TWICE, and ITZY kept the same top three places as last year. Meanwhile, BTS and Stray Kids held their top two spots on the list of 10 most-streamed K-pop boy groups from last year, while TREASURE emerged as 10th.
Among K-pop male solo artists, BTS members j-hope, SUGA (also known by his other stage name Agust D) and V topped the list from first to third places in order, followed by PSY, whose collaborated song with SUGA “That That” grabbed global listeners’ attention. Jay Park came in fifth, based on the success of his hottest works “MOMMAE,” “GANADARA” featuring IU, and “All I Wanna Do,” while DPR IAN capped the list as 10th with his beloved “No Blueberries” featuring DPR LIVE and CL, as well as “So Beautiful.”
Following BLACKPINK’s LISA, IU and TAEYEON recorded second and third places of the top K-pop female solo artists list with their top songs “LILAC” and “INVU,” respectively. Jessi, who dropped her single “ZOOM” in April came in fourth, while TWICE’s NAYEON with her solo EP IM NAYEON released in June took the fifth spot. The list of K-pop female solo heroines also included singer-songwriter BIBI, LeeHi, JEON SOMI, CHUNG HA, and ROSÉ.
“Following last year, we are elated to share the achievements K-pop artists have made throughout the year and celebrate them together with our global listeners, artists and partners through 2022 Wrapped,” said Kossy Ng, Spotify’s Head of Music Asia. "It's exciting to see how the data reflects the globalization of Korean music, as we continue to connect artists with more listeners across the world. At the same time, we hope it will be a fun, and enjoyable moment for fans as they close out this year with who their top streamed artists and tracks are!"
In addition to K-pop top lists, Spotify celebrated the most-streamed artists, tracks, and albums globally. Taking the number one spot for most-streamed artist globally, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny has become the first artist ever to take the top spot for three consecutive years. Bad Bunny was followed by Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd, and BTS, who took the fifth spot to maintain its position as one of the global top 10 artists since 2020. The list of most-streamed tracks was topped by Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” - included in his album “Harry’s House” which became the second most-streamed album - followed by Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves,” and The Kid LAROI’s “STAY” with Justin Bieber.
Spotify 2022 Wrapped Global K-pop Top Lists:
Top K-pop Artists Globally
BTS
BLACKPINK
TWICE
Stray Kids
SEVENTEEN
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
ENHYPEN
ITZY
(G)I-DLE
Red Velvet
Top K-pop Songs Globally
“Dynamite” - BTS
“Butter” - BTS
“Pink Venom” - BLACKPINK
“MONEY” - LISA
“Yet To Come” - BTS
“LOVE DIVE” - IVE
“Shut Down” - BLACKPINK
“Christmas Tree” - V
“Permission to Dance” - BTS
“With you” - HA SUNG WOON, Jimin
Top K-pop Female Groups Globally
BLACKPINK
TWICE
ITZY
(G)I-DLE
Red Velvet
aespa
IVE
LE SSERAFIM
NewJeans
STAYC
Top K-pop Male Groups Globally
BTS
Stray Kids
SEVENTEEN
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
ENHYPEN
NCT DREAM
ATEEZ
NCT127
EXO
TREASURE
Top K-pop Female Solo Artists Globally
LISA
IU
TAEYEON
Jessi
NAYEON
BIBI
LeeHi
JEON SOMI
CHUNG HA
ROSÉ
Top K-pop Male Solo Artists Globally
j-hope
SUGA (incl. Agust D)
V
PSY
Jay Park
HA SUNG WOON
Jimin
Jung Kook
JIN
DPR IAN
Spotify 2022 Wrapped Global Top Lists:
Top Global Artists
Bad Bunny
Taylor Swift
Drake
The Weeknd
BTS
Top Global Songs
“As It Was” - Harry Styles
“Heat Waves” - Glass Animals
“STAY (with Justin Bieber) - The Kid LAROI
“Me Porto Bonito” - Bad Bunny
“Tití Me Preguntó” - Bad Bunny
Top Global Albums
“Un Verano Sin Ti” - Bad Bunny
“Harry’s House” - Harry Styles
“SOUR” - Olivia Rodrigo
“=” - Ed Sheeran
“Planet Her” - Doja Cat