(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — A new survey indicates that YouTube is the most widely used app by South Korean music aficionados.
According to a survey carried out by the Korea Internet Corporations Association as part of its report on smartphone usage, 75.4 percent of respondents said that their smartphone application of choice to play music was YouTube.
Melon ranked second at 47.4 percent, followed by Naver Music (28 percent), Genie Music (15.7 percent), Apple Music (9.5 percent), Samsung Music (9.5 percent), Mnet (7.4 percent) and Bugs (6.4 percent).
YouTube was voted as the top music app in all age categories.
YouTube’s reign as the “most used app” continues after dominating the online streaming video market.
The recent survey results showed that subscribership to YouTube’s streaming videos had far exceeded its competitors, with 55.9 percent of respondents saying they turned to YouTube most often to watch videos.
Others sought search portal apps (25.1 percent), news agency apps (10.4 percent) and applications linked to major broadcasters (8 percent) to watch videos online.
Experts expect YouTube’s newfound popularity as a music streaming service will create ripples in the domestic music industry as it catches up with other global online music providers such as Spotify or Apple Music after the recent creation of YouTube’s “Music Premium.”
The survey also found that more respondents were planning to switch to a different music-for-pay service provider after their current subscription expires.
Reason for the change included discounts and promotional offers (67 percent), more music sources (25 percent), and better quality and design (7 percent).
Meanwhile, the survey also found that Koreans, on average, spend 287.5 minutes per day connected to the Internet.
Surfing online was the most popular use for wired Internet services (46.2 percent) while messenger apps were the preferred service by Wi-Fi users on mobile devices (32.6 percent).
The survey was conducted nationwide between March 23 and April 17, targeting 1,000 men and women between the ages of 15 and 60.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
