Here Are Spotify India’s Most Streamed K-pop Artists of 2020

As we approach the end of 2020, Spotify rang in December with the release of its annual Wrapped review yesterday. The streaming giant also took a look into K-pop’s growing prominence in India, having mapped the genre’s rise in the country since the app’s India launch in February 2019. 

One artist in particular made the biggest impact this year, eclipsing not just the K-pop industry, but most names in Indian and Western music. Pop group BTS are the fourth-most streamed act on Spotify India in 2020 overall, and the only international act to make the list of the Top Five most streamed artists in the country. Their award-winning 2020 LP Map Of The Soul: 7 is also the third most streamed album in India this year, cruising ahead of the likes of pop singer Justin Bieber’s Changes and Bollywood mega star Arijit Singh’s Broken Strings. India was also the second-highest in the world to stream the group’s August single “Dynamite” on the first day of its release on Spotify. A few days later, “Dynamite” broke the record for most ever streams of a song on Spotify India in a week, with over 2.4 million local plays, surprising BTS themselves.

Photo: Spotify India

In the lists below, Spotify unveils which K-pop albums, artists and singles made the most impact in the country through 2020. The previous analysis done shortly after the platform’s anniversary in India this year in March 2020 found BTS to be the top K-pop artist in the country and its a title they still own. The group have flooded almost every single 2020 list with their discography, dominating the Top 10 most streamed K-pop tracks with seven of their singles. Pop quartet BLACKPINK come in second, taking three places on the list. 

The 10 most streamed K-pop songs on Spotify India in 2020 were:

The list of most streamed K-pop albums on the platform again belongs to BTS, with their discography taking up nine places out of 10. BLACKPINK’s 2020 record The Album is the sole exception and ranks third:

The top 20 K-pop artists on Spotify India gave us a look into the acts slowly gaining in prominence in the country. BTS are the top dog here as well, but we also see big names like EXO, Twice, BLACKPINK, GOT7 and Red Velvet make appearances. Younger artists like TXT, Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE, ITZY and ATEEZ make their own mark while BTS members SUGA (aka Agust D) and V’s solo efforts granted them their own slots in the Top 10. Other solo names in the mix include IU, Mamamoo’s Hwasa and EXO’s Chanyeol.