Three cover songs by K-pop artists have accumulated more than 35 million streams on the Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Singles.
The Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Singles was launched this year with ENHYPEN, Shownu X Hyungwon of Monsta X, and girl group STAYC.
The feature was centered around the theme of “My First K-Pop Crush” and featured covers of songs by the sunbaes who first sparked each band’s love of K-pop.
(Photos from Spotify)
These Spotify Singles not only sparked enthusiasm among fans, but also rekindled appreciation for the iconic original tracks while continuing to spread the genre’s influence worldwide, even spanning beyond Asia and the US.
To date, ENHYPEN’s cover of BTS’ “I NEED U”, Shownu X Hyungwon’s rendition of 2PM’s “I Hate You” and STAYC’s version of TWICE’s “Fancy'' have collectively amassed more than 35 million streams.
Following the release of the Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Singles, the artists saw notable uplifts in Spotify streams on a global scale, underscoring the power of the Spotify Singles program in providing artists with opportunities to build and deepen connections with fans as they bring listeners fresh content.
In a week following the releases of the covers by ENHYPEN and STAYC, the groups’ overall Spotify streams saw a week-on-week increase of close to 25 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
Most notably, in just a week following the release of Shownu X Hyungwon’s cover of “I Hate You,” the duo saw a staggering 490 percent increase in global streams and a 20-fold increase in Spotify streams in the Philippines.
Highlighting the timeless appeal that music can have and the power of covers in bringing past hits back into the spotlight, Shownu X Hyungwon’s rendition of “I Hate You” resulted in an increase of more than 35 percent in Spotify streams for the original 2009 hit, in the week following the launch of the Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Single.
Spotify streams for BTS’ 2015 “I Need U'' also grew in the week following the release of ENHYPEN’s version of the song, tracking a 135 percent increase.
K-pop has proven that music from anywhere in the world can transcend language and cultural barriers. Once again demonstrating the global appeal of the genre, markets beyond the US and Asia ranked amongst the top countries rediscovering the original versions of the Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Singles.
In the week following the release of ENHYPEN’s cover, Brazil and Turkey were among the top markets that saw the highest percentage increase in streams for “I Need U'' by BTS.
Meanwhile Mexico, Canada and Brazil ranked amongst the top 10 markets rediscovering “I Hate You” by 2PM following the release of Shownu X Hyungwon’s rendition of the track.
A week after STAYC released their cover of TWICE's "Fancy," markets including Egypt, New Zealand, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Belgium saw the highest spikes in streams.
“We’re thrilled to witness how listeners worldwide have supported our first-ever Spotify K-Pop ON! (온) Singles,” said Park Jungjoo, head of Music Korea, Spotify. “At Spotify, our dedication to helping music travel the globe goes beyond showcasing talent. In addition to driving the growth of K-Pop by fueling music discovery, we’re also committed to helping artists foster deeper connections with fans and new listeners to build the appreciation of the genre.”