South Korea's music industry - statistics & facts

K-pop group BTS has been the best-selling artist in South Korea since 2016. Breaking numerous domestic and international records has become a relatively common occurrence for K-pop artists, showing how K-pop is not only popular in South Korea or Asian countries anymore, but has managed to reach a global audience. According to a 2022 survey on the popularity of K-pop worldwide, the majority of respondents felt that K-pop was widely known and popular among the public, rather than being confined to fan circles. The same survey found that one of the main reason for the popularity of K-pop were the catchy rhythms and choruses.

Music industry

All in all, the South Korean music industry achieved an all-time high sales revenue of around 9.4 trillion South Korean won in 2021, as well as an export value of about 775.3 million U.S. dollars. The export value has been increasing steadily ever since 2009 when K-pop began to become a global phenomenon. Nevertheless, while K-pop is one of the most prominent music exports from South Korea, there are numerous other popular domestic music genres. Older generations especially enjoy Korean Trot, an older form of South Korean popular music. When asked about their favorite origin of music, 93 percent of music listeners in South Korea stated that they preferred listening to music originating from South Korea.

Music streaming

In the home country of Samsung and LG, a great majority of consumers own and use smartphones. With one of the best internet connections of the world, it is unsurprising that music consumers prefer to stream music rather than purchasing a physical copy. When asked about their frequency of using music streaming services, over 78 percent stated that they did so on a weekly basis, with more than one in three doing so almost daily. In 2020, YouTube overtook the South Korean streaming service Melon as the most frequently used music streaming service in South Korea.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Aug 31, 2023

Key insights

Share of the music industry in the content industry, based on sales revenue
4.7%
Export value of music industry 2020
679.6m USD
Top selling physical album 2022
"Proof" by BTS
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