Spotify has just announced that its Free option is now available in South Korea!

Their vast library of music and podcasts, which can be accessed via its Freemium model, is currently enjoyed by more than 626 million users - including 246 million subscribers in more than 180 markets.

In 2008, Spotify revolutionised the music industry by providing a viable alternative to piracy and creating a new way to stream and pay for licensed music. Spotify's Freemium business model, which offers both a Free, ad-supported experience and a Premium subscription service, has helped global audiences connect with Korean music. To date, the company has paid out over $50 billion (over 67 trillion in Korean won) to music-rights holders.

The introduction of Spotify’s free option in South Korea marks a significant milestone for Spotify since it entered the market three years ago and will enable even more people to discover, share and enjoy new artists, music genres and podcasts from South Korea and around the world.

By signing up for a Free account, users in South Korea will be able to access and immediately start enjoying Spotify’s personalised playlists and music recommendations, editorial and user-generated playlists, millions of podcast titles - alongside unique features such as Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, daylist, Jam and more that allow you to connect with your friends through music across mobile, desktop and tablet. Around the world, most subscribers begin their Spotify journey with a Free account. Free users can choose to upgrade to the Premium experience for on-demand, ad-free music listening at any time to join the largest audio subscription audience in the world.  

The introduction of Spotify Free also opens an exciting new avenue for advertisers and brands in South Korea looking to reach a predominantly young, highly engaged audience. According to Spotify, brands who advertise on their free tier can deliver their message effectively as Spotify ads capture twice as much attention than social media platforms globally.

“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.”

“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. The average monthly streams of artists from Korea now surpass 5.8 billion streams, which is over 70% growth since Spotify’s launch in South Korea three years ago - spanning across K-pop to hip-hop, indie and more - with markets such as the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, India, South Korea and Taiwan among the top streamers. 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.”