Tag: Korean listeners

Spotify and NAVER Bring Music Integrations and Premium Benefits to Korea

December 16, 2025

NAVER partnership logo

Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That’s why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea’s leading digital platform, to bring new integrations and offers to millions of listeners. 

“Since launching in Korea, Spotify has been focused on connecting fans with the music and creators they love through our world-class personalization and discovery features,” said Gautam Talwar, General Manager, Spotify, Asia Pacific. “Partnering with NAVER, whose services are woven into the fabric of everyday digital life in Korea, enables us to bring those experiences even closer to listeners, helping them find the right music for every mood and moment.”

This partnership marks a major milestone for Spotify Korea, embedding the Spotify experience directly into NAVER’s platform across Search, Maps, and NAVER+ Membership. 

To introduce this new era of everyday audio, Spotify has also partnered with Felix of Stray Kids as the ambassador for the launch campaign. Known for his global influence and deep connection with fans, Felix brings the spirit of discovery and creativity that sits at the heart of what Spotify and NAVER aim to unlock for listeners in Korea. Check out the first campaign video revealing Felix as the ambassador.

Here’s how listeners will benefit. 

NAVER Maps integration

Spotify is now available within NAVER Maps, allowing users to access music playback directly in the Maps interface. It’s a new way to soundtrack your drives and commutes without missing a beat.

Audio upgrades for NAVER+ members

Spotify Premium Basic is now included at no additional cost with NAVER+ Membership, NAVER’s paid subscription for premium benefits across shopping, content, and partner services. Members can now enjoy Spotify Premium Basic features like ad-free listening and enhanced audio quality.

NAVER is also introducing a new add-on, letting members with existing free content benefits subscribe to Premium Basic at a discounted member rate. More details are available on the NAVER+ Membership page.

Easy preview with NAVER Search 

Music-related searches in the NAVER app now offer Spotify preview playback so users can sample songs instantly before listening in full.

As Spotify and NAVER continue to work together, users in Korea can look forward to even more seamless and connected audio experiences across the NAVER ecosystem.

Spotify Set to Launch in South Korea in the First Half of 2021

December 17, 2020

Since Spotify debuted our first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 billion minutes of the genre and added K-Pop tracks to more than 120 million playlists. In the last six years, the share of K-Pop listening on Spotify has even increased by more than 2,000%—that’s a lot of excitement for all things K-Pop. So soon, we will be saying “Annyeong haseyo,” or “hello,” to the home of the genre as Spotify launches in South Korea in the first half of 2021. 

Launching in South Korea will give Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists, as well as enable Korean artists to reach their local music fans and Spotify’s 320 million listeners worldwide. It will also connect listeners in Korea to artists and music from around the world.

“We are excited about our upcoming launch in South Korea, a market recognized as an epicenter for music, culture and tech innovation,” says Alex Norström, Chief Freemium Business Officer of Spotify. “Spotify has been a partner to the Korean music industry for many years now. We are proud to have been a part of the K-pop global story, showcasing the genre on our platform and enabling its discovery all over the world, from Asia to the US, South America, Europe and the Middle East. We’re looking forward to working with our valued local partners to uncover more Korean artists, and to connect them with fans in South Korea and all over the world.”

As one of the fastest-growing major music markets in the world* and the sixth-largest music market globally,** South Korea is key for Spotify in our mission of giving a million artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it. Spotify wants to help accelerate the growth of Korea’s entire music streaming ecosystem, benefitting artists, labels, distributors and fans.

Today, our K-pop genre hub encompasses a wide range of Korean music, including K-pop, hip-hop, indie, OST, R&B and more, as well as “RADAR Korea,” a playlist uncovering fresh K-music finds as a part of Spotify’s global emerging artist program. The hub is localized in over 64 countries, including Russia, India, Brazil and the UAE.

Tune into K-Pop Daebak for some of the hottest K-Pop hits and look out for more information on the launch in the first half of 2021.

* According to IFPI 

** According to IFPI