This image, provided by Spotify, shows the company’s logo for its music streaming service.
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Attention is mounting as to whether Spotify can succeed in the South Korean market after the global music streaming service platform announced plans to launch its service here within the first half of this year.
The driving force behind Spotify’s strong popularity around the world is its strong music recommendation function.
Discover Weekly, which creates a playlist on a weekly basis on the basis of the personal tastes of users, is one of Spotify’s main functions with the highest user satisfaction.
Industry experts predict that the key to Spotify’s success in the domestic market lies on how to get access to domestic music content and how to build up the strength of its original content.
For Spotify to follow in the footsteps of Netflix, which has completely upended the South Korean market, instead of Apple Music, which has been little more than a storm in a tea cup, it needs to learn a lesson from the success of the U.S. streaming giant.
(image: Korea Bizwire)
Netflix launched its Korean service in 2016, and has enjoyed robust growth on the back of its original content such as “Okja” and “Kingdom.”
It also put an emphasis on win-win growth with Korean content. The company has been generous in paying production costs compared to other broadcasting companies and distribution platforms.
In contrast, Apple Music, which entered the South Korean market in the same year, failed to gain similar success.
Similarly, YouTube Music is still regarded as nothing but an affiliated service with YouTube Premium video.
Local music streaming services like Genie Music are engaged not only in music services but also in the production and distribution of music content. Without their cooperation, it’s difficult to provide a streaming music service.
In other words, just as Apple Music did, Spotify could also have difficulty in gaining access to domestic music content.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
