I was looking at the most-streamed kpop songs from 2026 on Spotify, and I just observed some random stats about the top 20 (excluding BTS, since 14 of the top 20 would be just them if they were counted, and that would be a little boring to look at stats about). Here are some observations I thought I’d share in case you are interested.
| Title | Artist | Release Date | Gender | Generation | Company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Redred | Cortis | April 20 | M | 5 | HYBE |
| 2. Iconic By Mistake | Le Sserafim, Illit, Katseye | June 12 | F | 4, 5 | HYBE |
| 3. It’s Me | Illit | April 30 | F | 5 | HYBE |
| 4. Rude | Hearts2Hearts | Feb 20 | F | 5 | SM |
| 5. Lemonade | aespa | May 29 | F | 4 | SM |
| 6. Moonwalkin’ | LNGSHOT | Jan 13 | M | 5 | More Vision |
| 7. Catch Catch | Yena | March 11 | F | 4 | Yuehua |
| 8. Sawadika | Lisa | Sep 2 | F | 3 | LLOUD |
| 9. Go | Blackpink | Feb 22 | F | 3 | YG |
| 10. Bad | Ateez | June 26 | M | 4 | KQ |
| 11. Boompala | Le Sserafim | May 22 | F | 4 | HYBE |
| 12. Choom | Babymonster | May 4 | F | 5 | YG |
| 13. 404 | KiiiKiii | Jan 26 | F | 5 | Starship |
| 14. Bang Bang | IVE | Feb 9 | F | 4 | Starship |
| 15. Knife | Enhypen | Jan 16 | M | 4 | HYBE |
| 16. Less than a Lover | Jennie | July 24 | F | 3 | OA |
| 17. Never Let Go | LNGSHOT | Jan 13 | M | 5 | More Vision |
| 18. Stick With You | TXT | April 13 | M | 4 | HYBE |
| 19. Acai | Cortis | May 4 | M | 5 | HYBE |
| 20. Bloody Paradise | Enhypen | Aug 21 | M | 4 | HYBE |
Artists with two entries
- Cortis
- Le Sserafim
- Illit
- LNGSHOT
- Enhypen
B-sides
- Never Let Go – LNGSHOT
- Acai – Cortis
These are the only b-sides that appear in the top 20.
Groups vs. Soloists
- Group: 17
- Soloist: 3
Gender
- Male: 8
- Female: 12
Generation
- 3rd: 3
- 4th: 9*
- 5th: 9*
*Le Sserafim and Illit both counted for Iconic By Mistake.
Company
- HYBE: 8 (Belift 4*, BigHit 3, Source 2*)
- SM: 2
- YG: 2
- JYPE: 0
- Other: 8
- More Vision: 2
- Starship: 2
- Yuehua: 1
- LLOUD: 1
- KQ: 1
- OA: 1
*Le Sserafim and Illit both counted for Iconic By Mistake.
Possible contenders, based on current performance
- This & That – Stray Kids (Aug 7, M, 4, JYPE)
- It’s still getting ~500k daily streams, so it will likely sneak into the top 20 before other songs pass it.
- Neon – A20 Lite (Oct 13, F, 5, A20)
- It’s still doing over 1 million streams per day, so it may enter the top 20 before the end of the year.
- You’re Under Arrest – Illit (Oct 26, F, 5, HYBE)
- Doing over 1.5 million streams daily. If it enters the top 20 before the end of the year, Illit will have 3 songs in the top 20.
- Firestarter – K/DA, i-dle, others (Oct 18, F, 4, Riot Games)
- Still doing close to 1 million streams per day.
Thoughts
B-sides
- There hasn’t really been a big b-side hit from this year, with none in the top 15, and the two hottest 5th gen boy groups being the only ones to place b-sides in the top 20.
Gender
- It’s slightly less female-dominated than in recent years, with songs by male artists making up 3 of the top 10 (including #1) and almost half of the total.
Generation
- It appears 4th gen isn’t dead yet, although the top 4 songs (minus LSF on IBM) are all from 5th gen groups.
Company
- JYPE currently has no entries in the top 20. Stray Kids will likely sneak in for a little bit before getting passed by A20 Lite.
- Contrary to the doomposting about the death of mid-size companies, non-b4 companies are faring pretty well, making up almost half the top 20.
- Two of those are BP solos, so you may not count them. Still, mid-tier companies are clearly not dead yet, either.
And just to provide the complete picture, here is the top 20 with BTS included.
| Title | Artist | Release Date | Gender | Generation | Company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Swim | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 2. Normal | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 3. Body to Body | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 4. Hooligan | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 5. 2.0 | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 6. FYA | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 7. they don’t know ’bout us | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 8. Like Animals | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 9. Aliens | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 10. Merry Go Round | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 11. Into The Sun | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 12. Redred | Cortis | April 20 | M | 5 | HYBE |
| 13. Please | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 14. One More Night | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 15. Iconic By Mistake | Le Sserafim, Illit, Katseye | June 12 | F | 4, 5 | HYBE |
| 16. No. 29 | BTS | March 20 | M | 3 | HYBE |
| 17. It’s Me | Illit | April 30 | F | 5 | HYBE |
| 18. Rude | Hearts2Hearts | Feb 20 | F | 5 | SM |
| 19. Lemonade | aespa | May 29 | F | 4 | SM |
| 20. Moonwalkin’ | LNGSHOT | Jan 13 | M | 5 | More Vision |
submitted by /u/eveningsnewestetoile
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