Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

K-pop had another blockbuster year, but 2025 also marked a notable rise for Korea's indie and rock music scenes, according to data compiled by Spotify for the Korean music market, Azernews reports, citing Korean media.

Spotify's 2025 Wrapped dataset showed that streams of K-indie and K-rock songs grew by 68% and 16%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

The top five indie and rock artists were DAY6, The Black Skirts, BOL4, Hanroro, and 10CM. Among the most-streamed K-indie songs, "yours" (2019) by Damons Year topped the list, followed by "Happy" (2024) by DAY6, "Closely Far Away" (2021) by Car, the Garden, "Time of Our Life" (2019) by DAY6, and "You Were Beautiful" (2017) by DAY6.

Spotify has been actively promoting hidden K-indie and K-rock gems to global audiences through initiatives like the Fresh Finds and RADAR programs, along with expanded editorial curation.

The streaming service also strengthened domestic partnerships, including a collaboration with the CJ Cultural Foundation. Their joint project, "Tune Up Meets Fresh Finds," showcased artists such as jisokuryClub, Can’t Be Blue, and New Zealand’s There’s A Tuesday, who delivered unique live performances that encouraged creative exchange and broadened stage exposure.

“We will continue supporting artists across diverse genres and help bring their music to global listeners,” Spotify said in a press release.

Analysts note that the growth of K-indie and K-rock reflects a shifting music culture in Korea, where listeners are increasingly exploring genres beyond mainstream K-pop. Some fans even joke that Korea’s indie and rock scenes are quietly becoming the “best-kept secrets of the global music world.”