K-Pop Dominates Global Streaming and Music Markets in 2025... "KPop Demon Hunters" Records 2.05 Billion Views, with Jennie and G-Dragon Seeing Significant Rise

K-Pop achieved unprecedented success in global streaming and music markets throughout 2025. Netflix’s animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” logged 2.05 billion minutes of views solely in the United States, making it the most-streamed film of the year. According to Nielsen data, this figure corresponds to approximately 270 million full viewings when converted to a 99-minute runtime. Released in June 2025, the film underwent limited theatrical releases following its surge in streaming popularity. As an animation centered on the activities of Stray Kids and other idol groups, it maintained consistent popularity by remaining on Nielsen’s streaming top 10 for 25 consecutive weeks. Notably, 48% of viewers were children aged 2 to 11, and the film’s title track “Golden” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Globally, Netflix reported a record 482 million views over a six-month period. The domestic K-Pop market also continued to thrive. Per K-Pop Radar, operated by SpaceAudity, South Korea retained its first-place position in global K-Pop consumption, with its share increasing further compared to the previous year. Japan and Indonesia ranked second and third respectively, while the United States rose from fifth place in the prior year to fourth, accounting for 6.25% of global K-Pop consumption. Taiwan made its debut on the top 10 by rising to ninth place after two years of continuous growth. In terms of domestic K-Pop artist rankings for 2025, DAY6 moved up from second to first place, followed by aespa and IU in second and third positions respectively. G-Dragon led all artists in terms of increase in views, with roughly 200 million more views, while BIGBANG finished fourth overall, demonstrating strong appeal among domestic fans. Solo artists also showed notable progress; WOODZ ranked eleventh overall with approximately 160 million additional views, placing him second in terms of growth, and Jennie secured third place, proving her strong personal brand power. In the U.S. market, Stray Kids maintained first place with a 8.63% share, while KATSEYE ranked third overall after recording approximately 260 million additional views, securing first place in terms of growth rate. Significant changes occurred in the music release market as well. In the 2025 K-POP music category of the K-Brand Index by the Asia Brand Research Institute, Jennie’s “like JENNIE” surpassed Rosé’s globally successful track “APT.”” to claim first place. This ranking was based on an analysis of 51,118,910 pieces of online big data collected over January 2026 from the top 30 songs on Melon’s chart for 2025. The top 10 of the K-Brand Index included “like JENNIE” (Jennie), “한 페이지가 될 수 있게” (DAY6), “APT.” (Rosé & Bruno Mars), “Good GoodBye” (Hwasa), and “Drowning” (WOODZ). Notably, IVE was the only group to have two tracks—“ATTITUDE” (8th place) and “REBEL HEART” (9th place)—both on the top 10, proving their status as a “trustworthy group” whose songs, including B-sides, are equally popular. K-Pop solidified its role as a core pillar of Hallyu in 2025 through multi-faceted expansion beyond domestic and international music markets, including video content, global collaborations, and solo artist activities.