‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Soundtrack Boosts K-Pop Listening on Spotify 25%
The buzzed-about Netflix movie is a bonafide 2025 breakthrough hit, but how has it boosted Spotify streams of the genre?
Spotify streams to 184 markets around the world, so we’re used to seeing regional genres ignite into global phenomena. Even so, the rise of K-Pop worldwide continues to defy averages. Spotify streams of the genre have grown, on average, 79% each year for the past decade, increasing more than 100x over.
In June 2025, the global Netflix smash KPop Demon Huntersunderscored the genre’s continued momentum and potential. During the following months, K-Pop streams on Spotify rose 25% globally compared to the year’s earlier daily average.
Some of that growth can certainly be attributed to the film’s soundtrack itself. No fewer than seven songs from the soundtrack have charted on Spotify’s Global Top 50 so far this year, with the standout hit “Golden” still sitting pretty in the number-one position as of late September.
In some markets, the increase was even more noticeable. For example, K-Pop streams on Spotify increased 60% in Ireland, 56% in Sweden, and 46% in the US in the months following the film’s release.
But this refreshed interest in K-Pop extends beyond the soundtrack as fans explore what else the genre has to offer. Spotify streams of K-Pop outside the film’s soundtrack increased 9% globally in the months after the film’s release. Considering that Spotify has more than 700 million active users worldwide, a 9% increase in K-Pop listening outside the soundtrack—after a decade of continued, significant growth–is meaningful.
We’ve noticed that nearly every demographic increased its K-Pop listening following the release of the movie.
Increases by age:
35-44: 45%
25-29: 31%
30-34: 28%
45-54: 27%
13-17: 21%
55+: 18%
18-24: 9%
Increases by gender:
Male: 28%
Female: 21%
Neutral: 12%
Additionally, we took a look at the most-streamed K-Pop artists on Spotify outside the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack since the film’s release:
We looked at which K-Pop artists listeners of KPop Demon Hunters. discovered the most on Spotify, aside from those on the soundtrack. In other words, these are the top artists soundtrack streamers on Spotify are encountering for the first time:
The audiences for K-Pop and the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack have plenty of overlap, but they differ as well.
Check out the most-streaming cities of the album and genre, respectively, on Spotify, based on streams from the film’s release in June to late September. One conclusion is that English speakers have embraced the album more, relative to the genre.
Top cities for the album (six of 10 primarily speak English):
Sydney, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Quezon City, Phillipines
Greater London, UK
New York City, US
Brisbane, Australia
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Mexico City, Mexico
Jakarta, Indonesia
Los Angeles, US
Top cities for the genre (two of 10 primarily speak English):
Bangkok, Thailand
Jakarta, Indonesia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mexico City, Mexico
Taipei, Taiwan
Quezon City, Philippines
New York City, US
São Paulo, Brazil
Santiago, Chile
Sydney, Australia
As popular as it already was, K-Pop clearly had more listeners to reach, as the film reignited the passions of current fans while introducing new listeners all around the globe to the genre.