A promotional video for Spotify, which has partnered with Naver Plus membership. [YouTube/Spotify official channel]
A promotional video for Spotify, which has partnered with Naver Plus membership. [YouTube/Spotify official channel]

Spotify recorded 7.27 million monthly active users (MAU) in South Korea last month, solidifying its position as the country's second-largest music streaming app. The figure represents a 71.3 percent surge from the same month a year earlier. Having overtaken homegrown platform Melon for the first time in June, Spotify has widened that gap to more than 1 million users in just four months.

When Spotify first entered the Korean market, the prevailing view was that it would struggle to gain a foothold given the dominant market share held by domestic platforms — with some going so far as to say it was "guaranteed to fail in Korea." The company turned the tide by introducing an ad-supported free tier and then expanding its partnership with Naver through a membership tie-up, drawing in users at a rapid pace.

Domestic platforms are now fighting back. Melon is set to launch an ad-supported bundle product this month together with fellow homegrown OTT service Tving.

According to app and payment data analytics firm WiseApp·Retail, Spotify's domestic MAU stood at 7.27 million last month. YouTube Music led the market with 9.17 million MAU, followed by Spotify, Melon at 5.85 million, Samsung Music at 4.18 million and Genie Music at 2.33 million. Among the top three services, Melon is the only Korean-owned platform.

The gap between Spotify and Melon has been widening quickly. Spotify surpassed Melon's MAU for the first time in June, when the two platforms were separated by just 290,000 users. By last month, that gap had grown to 1.42 million — roughly five times wider in the span of four months.

Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform. [Reuters]
Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform. [Reuters]

Spotify's rapid growth is largely attributed to its ad-supported free service and membership partnerships with domestic platforms. The company introduced its ad-supported free tier, Spotify Free, in Korea in 2024, lowering the barrier to entry by allowing users to listen to music without a subscription fee in exchange for hearing advertisements.

A deeper collaboration with Naver began in earnest in November last year. Naver Plus membership subscribers can access Spotify's Premium Basic plan at no additional cost. The arrangement — which lets users listen ad-free through a 4,900-won-a-month Naver Plus membership — has proven effective at drawing in new users.

The two companies are also deepening integration beyond the membership tie-up. One notable example is support for playing Spotify music directly through the navigation feature in Naver Maps.

Domestic music platforms are striking back. Melon, operated by Kakao Entertainment, teamed up with OTT service Tving on Wednesday to launch an ad-supported bundle that offers both music and video content for 6,900 won a month.

The product combines Melon's ad-supported music streaming plan, Melon Streaming Light, with Tving's ad-supported mobile-only plan, Tving Mobile Light. It is available through SK Telecom's subscription platform T Universe.


chami@heraldcorp.com