The Korea Herald

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Global music streaming giants target Korea with tailor-made lists

By Lim Jang-won

Published : April 27, 2021 - 14:45

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Saseon featured on Jazzy Korea (Spotify) Saseon featured on Jazzy Korea (Spotify)

The two biggest music streamers Spotify and Apple Music are attempting to penetrate the Korean market with unique playlists and music charts.

Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, announced the launch of “Jazzy Korea,” a new playlist curated to introduce a wide range of rising Korean jazz artists and tracks to celebrate the upcoming International Jazz Day on April 30.

The new playlist containing 30 tracks by 30 Korean jazz artists was launched last week.

The Jazzy Korea playlist introduces a variety of artists and tracks, including the latest jazz releases in Korea. The new playlist features Korean jazz band “Saseon,” who released an EP on April 22, as the first artist on the cover.

“We were incredibly excited to hear that Spotify was launching a jazz playlist which curates Korean jazz artists and tracks,” Saseon said. “We’re delighted to be the first cover artist of Spotify’s Jazzy Korea.”

The band also expressed hope that the new playlist would put Korea’s rising jazz artists on the global map.

Data compiled by Spotify showed that singer Nah Youn-sun was the most streamed Korean jazz artist worldwide over the past year. Globally, Frank Sinatra topped the list of most-streamed jazz artists and Chet Baker was the most listened to jazz artist by Spotify listeners in Korea.

“We wish more artists are introduced to the world through the borderless music ecosystem, and more listeners are able to experience a wider range of music,” a Spotify spokesperson said.

Separately, Apple Music also launched a daily music chart for Seoul to track the number of plays in the city on Monday. Users can see the top 25 played songs in 100 cities around the world, including Seoul.

Spotify, which launched here in February, and Apple Music, which has been in Korea for over five years, together account for around 1 percent of the music streaming market in Korea.

By Lim Jang-won (ljw@heraldcorp.com)