South Korea’s Music Market Remains 7th Largest in the World, with Jimin and LE SSERAFIM Dominating Global Charts

South Korea’s music industry continues to show strong growth on the global stage. According to the “Global Market Overview 2025” released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), South Korea holds the 7th largest music market in the world, matching its position from the previous year (2023). Nine of the top 10 markets remain unchanged from 2023, but Australia, which was in 10th place, has been replaced by Mexico. Last year, the global music industry generated revenue of $29.6 billion (approximately 43.1153 trillion won), representing a 4.8% increase from the previous year. Significant growth was observed in Latin America (+22.5%), the Middle East and North Africa (+22.8%), and Sub-Saharan Africa (+22.6%). Subscription streaming served as a key driving force, with subscription streaming revenue rising by 9.5%, and the number of users with paid subscriptions increasing by 10.6% to reach 752 million worldwide. Total streaming revenue (including both paid subscriptions and ad-supported streaming) reached $20.4 billion (approximately 29.7228 trillion won), surpassing $20 billion for the first time. Jimin, a member of BTS, achieved historic results on Billboard charts. His song “Who” entered the “HOT 100” chart in week 33, setting a new record as the longest-charting K-pop artist track. Previously, BTS’s “Dynamite” held this record with 32 weeks on the chart, but Jimin surpassed that mark. “Who” rose from 41st to 29th place on the overall chart and moved up from 26th to 23rd in the streaming songs ranking. Additionally, “Who” re-entered the digital single sales chart at 14th place, demonstrating sustained fan support. “Who” is not Jimin’s highest-charting track. His song “Like Crazy,” released in 2023, debuted at number 1 on the “HOT 100” chart, making him the first K-pop solo artist to achieve that milestone. It remains uncertain whether “Who” will stay on the charts going forward, as Playboy Carti is set to release a large number of new songs, which may push several existing tracks off the list. LE SSERAFIM is also sweeping global charts. Their fifth mini-album, “HOT,” released on the 14th, topped both the Circle Chart and the Hanteo Weekly Album Chart just two days after its release. The album sold 622,293 copies over two days (March 9–15), exceeding sales figures for their previous album “Crazy.” In Japan, it also reached number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Digital Album Chart, marking the group’s third such achievement since “Fearless” and “Unforgiven.” The title track “HOT” ranked 4th on global K-pop charts and moved up from 9th to 3rd on Spotify Korea’s daily top songs list. It reached 4th place on Apple Music Korea’s Top 100 chart and 5th place on YouTube Music Korea’s daily chart (as of March 17). It also showed strong performance on major domestic music streaming platforms, rising 17 places on Melon, 25 places on Genie, and jumping sharply from 30th to 13th on Bugs. Meanwhile, LE SSERAFIM is scheduled to hold its first world tour, “2025 LE SSERAFIM TOUR EASY CRAZY HOT,” in Incheon on April 19. The fact that SEVENTEEN ranked 3rd, Stray Kids ranked 5th, and ENHYPEN ranked 14th on IFPI’s 2024 Global Artists Chart further confirms K-pop’s ongoing global influence.