Music streaming service Spotify finally arrives in Korea

Tech

Published: 02 Feb. 2021, 18:02

Music streaming service Spotify finally arrives in Korea

[SPOTIFY]

Spotify has officially launched in Korea, making the music streaming service available on iPhones and Android devices on Tuesday.

Spotify was available to download on Apple devices from Monday, while for Android phones, the launch came a day later on Tuesday.

Domestic users will be offered a seven-day free trial of Spotify Premium on their mobile phones with no credit card information required. An extension of the free trial for three months will be offered to users who register their credit card information.

Officially priced at 10,900 won ($9.80) a month, the Premium service provides higher sound quality, zero ad interruptions and allows users to download music to the app. Spotify Duo, charged at 16,350 won per month, is a two-person plan for two separate Spotify Premium accounts at a discount price.

Apart from the vast amount of music available, Spotify’s main selling point is the personalization algorithm that recommends songs based on a user’s track records. The feature is offered by a score of existing music streaming services in Korea, but Spotify is one of the oldest players in the world that owns data accumulated from years of recommending music.

The platform will be introducing a set of K-pop playlists which its editors will handpick and update on a regular basis, it said.

However, it remains to be seen how well the service will succeed in Korea. As a global service provider active across 93 markets, the advantage of Spotify is its massive database — over 60 million tracks and four billion playlists — meaning it could provide a larger scope of music in terms of nationality and genre.

That may not work in a market still focused on K-pop and that has already established music streaming services with features refined to suit domestic user patterns.

Spotify has named David Park as managing director for Korea. He will lead a team of music and audio industry experts to ensure Spotify’s continued evolution in the market.

“We’re looking forward to working even closer with the entire Korean music industry to uncover more artists and connect them with fans in Korea and the world, while also continuously working on providing an ever-improving, unrivaled listening experience to Korean listeners,” said Alex Norstrom, chief freemium business officer at Spotify.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]