Spotify launches Free tier in South Korea

Spotify launched in South Korea in February 2021 without its ad-supported tier.

Now, after three-and-a-half years, the streaming company says that its “Free” option is available in the market.

Spotify says that the launch of its ad-supported tier in South Korea, the world’s seventh-largest recorded music market (IFPI), marks a significant milestone for the platform.

According to Spotify,  the introduction of its free tier “opens an exciting new avenue for advertisers and brands in South Korea looking to reach a predominantly young, highly engaged audience”.

Spotify generated global Ad-Supported Revenues of €456 million ($490.97) in Q2 2024, up 12% YoY at constant currency, reflecting double-digit Y/Y growth across all regions.

Globally, Spotify counted 393 million ad-supported MAUs in Q2 (the three months to end of June), which was up 5 million versus the prior quarter (Q1).

The addressable market in South Korea is significant. According to Datareportal, there were 50.30 million internet users in South Korea at the start of 2024, when internet penetration in the market stood at 97.2%.

Spotify saw its global Premium Subscriber base grow to 246 million paying users in Q2, up by 7 million net subscribers on the 239 million reported for the prior quarter (Q1 2024).

Commenting on the launch today (October 10), Gautam Talwar, Spotify’s General Manager for Asia Pacific, said that the availability of the company’s free tier in South Korea “means huge potential for new audiences, discoverability and ultimately, more revenue for artists”.

In addition to the potentially significant ad revenue benefit for the streaming service in the market, Spotify will likely also hope to convert a portion of its Free userbase in South Korea to paying subscribers in the future.

Spotify noted in its announcement today that “around the world, most subscribers begin their Spotify journey with a Free account” but that “free users can choose to upgrade to the Premium experience for on-demand, ad-free music listening at any time”.

Spotify offers three paid tiers in South Korea, Individual, Duo and Basic, which are priced at 10,900, 16,350 and 7,900 South Korea Won, respectively (see below).

Spotify says that artists from South Korea across all genres now surpass a combined 5.8 billion monthly streams on average, which marks over 70% growth since the platform’s launch in South Korea three years ago.

SPOT cites markets such as the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, India, South Korea and Taiwan as being among the top streamers of music from South Korean artists.

“The launch of Spotify Free in South Korea is an exciting moment, not only for consumers but for artists and the industry at large.”

Gautam Talwar, Spotify

“The launch of Spotify Free in South Korea is an exciting moment, not only for consumers but for artists and the industry at large,” said Gautam Talwar, General Manager, Asia Pacific, Spotify.

“We’re opening the door to every Korean listener to start discovering and connecting with millions of songs and podcasts with our technology and service – which means huge potential for new audiences, discoverability and ultimately, more revenue for artists.”

Added Talwar: “We launched Spotify in South Korea in 2021, and since then we’ve been working to connect more Korean artists to listeners locally and around the world.

“We are committed to growing and expanding artists’ reach worldwide and the launch of our Free offering in the market will add even more Korean listeners to that mix.”Music Business Worldwide