Busan, South Korea. Photo Credit: Wade Lee

Has Spotify topped Melon in South Korea’s ultra-competitive streaming arena? Yes, per one market research firm – and not quite, according to another, with both nevertheless pointing to strong gains for global DSPs.

The conflicting assessments surfaced in a Chosunbiz breakdown exploring the growing reach of Spotify and YouTube Music in Korea. According to Seoul’s WiseApp Retail, Melon currently boasts about 5.93 million MAUs in the nation of nearly 52 million – behind YouTube Music (9.49 million) and Spotify (6.22 million).

While interesting on their own, the figures are especially noteworthy because the same source was gauging a sizable lead for Melon over Spotify closer to 2026’s start: An estimated 6.07 million users compared to 5.02 million users.

However, as acknowledged by Chosunbiz, these and other numbers stem from samples as opposed to concrete usership disclosures. Mobile Index, for its part, painted a noticeably different picture of the on-demand landscape, with average MAUs of 8.51 million for YouTube Music, 7.13 million for Melon, 2.88 million for Genie Music, 2.38 million for Spotify, and 1.93 million for Flo.

At the intersection of both collections of numbers, then, a couple things stand out. First, Spotify, which only set sail in South Korea in 2021 before adding an ad-supported tier in 2024, appears to be outperforming homegrown platforms in terms of user increases.

Add in YouTube Music’s dominance – intact following a listener decrease resulting from bundling-related changes – and it’s safe to acknowledge user-growth headway in South Korea for global DSPs.

Though significant, that isn’t quite the same as subscriber headway given the inherent difficulty associated with driving paid user conversions in the market. Against this backdrop, Spotify is pulling out all the stops to add subs in South Korea.

Some of its steps have received coverage, but others have flown under the radar. Spotify earlier in 2026 implemented price bumps, seemingly baking in a VAT charge, affecting Duo (currently ₩17,985/$12.47 per month), Individual (₩11,990/$8.32), Basic (₩8,690/$6.03), and Student (₩6,600/$4.58) alike.

With that, Apple Music charges a cool 26% less for its own Individual plan – and less for Family (₩13,500/$9.36 per month) than Spotify’s Duo. Put differently, reported user growth aside, there’s a lot to consider before arriving at definitive conclusions.

A few more of those considerations: Spotify wrapped 2025 by inking an integration partnership with leading South Korean search platform Naver. And despite Samsung’s overall hardware advantage, the iPhone reportedly commands a majority usership share among Koreans between the ages of 18 and 29.

Finally, Melon, far from sitting idly by, is looking to counter the user shifts with exclusive offerings such as the Global-K Chart; Kakao (Berriz) and Hybe (Weverse) also operate standalone superfan apps.