K-pop icons Jennie of Blackpink and BTS members Jin and J-Hope have taken over Spotify’s mid-year 2025 Global Impact List, claiming the majority of the top 10 spots among Korean artists streamed outside of South Korea.
Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, unveiled the list on Monday. The Global Impact List ranks the top 30 Korean tracks most streamed by international audiences between January 1 and June 30, 2025, excluding plays within South Korea.
At the top was Like JENNIE by Blackpink’s Jennie, followed by Don’t Say You Love Me by BTS’s Jin at No. 2. Jennie appeared again at No. 3 with “ExtraL”, a collaboration with Doechii. J-Hope took the No. 4 spot with MONA LISA, while Jennie returned at No. 5 for Love Hangover, a track with Dominic Fike.
The top 10 was largely dominated by Jennie and J-Hope, both of whom released new solo tracks early this year. Blackpink’s Jisoo made the list at No. 7 with her single track Earthquake, while Le Sserafim was the only other K-pop group to break into the top 10 with Hot.
In total, 14 K-pop acts were featured in the top 30, including BTS (Jin, J-Hope), Blackpink (Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo), IVE, Le Sserafim, NCT’s Ten, TXT, GOT7, Seventeen, Miyao, BOYNEXTDOOR and G-Dragon. However, only 12 of the 30 tracks were by artists outside of BTS and Blackpink.
One of the most notable trends this year is the surge of solo artists, particularly during the group hiatuses of BTS and Blackpink. Of the top 30 tracks, 19 were solo releases, led by Jennie, who charted nine songs on the list.
Another standout theme was the expansion of international collaborations.
Jennie worked with artists including Doechii, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis. Meanwhile, J-Hope partnered with Miguel, Pharrell Williams and GloRilla, creating culturally rich crossover tracks.
Spotify also noted the rising impact of K-pop in film and animation. Blackpink Rosé’s Messy from F1® The Movie reached No. 14, while the original soundtrack Your Idol from the animated film Kpop Demon Hunters debuted at No. 41 after just six days of tracking.
The global music streaming service announces a list highlighting the 30 most-streamed South Korean songs outside the country biannually to measure artists’ global reach and cross-border popularity.
By Sookyung Seo
skseo@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
