Since its launch in April 2017 as Spotify’s first-ever editorial playlist focusing on South Korea’s hip-hop, ‘K-Hip-Hop +82’ has connected various K-hip-hop artists and their tracks to listeners around the world. 

And after over 5 years, Spotify is now rebranding the playlist with a new name - and that is, KrOWN. Now called ‘KrOWN,’ the name is a combination of “KR,” the country code for South Korea, and “Crown/Own” which refers to the crowned Kings and Queens who own K-hip-hop worldwide. Following today’s rebrand, Spotify also plans to initiate multiple activations in the future in order to drive attention to K-hip-hop worldwide including South Korea - home to the genre. 

KrOWN was streamed by more than 20 million times in the last year alone, while over 520K listeners enjoyed a new K-hip-hop track through the playlist in July 

In celebration of this milestone, Spotify revealed insightful global streaming data related to the ‘KrOWN’ playlist. Followed by over 430K listeners around the world, the playlist had been streamed over 20 million times within last year, which is a 56% increase compared to the annual stream count since the official launch of the playlist. 

Spotify also unveiled that over 520K listeners came across a new K-hip-hop track through the playlist in July, in addition to the list of countries that streamed the playlist the most: the United States, Taiwan, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Japan. 

Moreover, Spotify shared streaming data related to Korean hip-hop in general. As of July, K-hip-hop music has been streamed more than 13.1 billion times, while Spotify listeners created around 80 million playlists on their own, including at least one Korean hip-hop track. 

Not only that, but the annual share of K-hip-hop streaming on Spotify also showed a steep 416% growth over the past seven years. Lastly, it was also discovered that Gen Zs from age 18 to 24 listened to K-hip-hop the most, accounting for nearly half of the entire streaming age groups (49%). 

"We are happy to introduce Spotify’s new face of K-hip-hop ‘KrOWN’ to the world. We are dedicated to connecting a wider spectrum of Korean music genres and artists with fans and new listeners around the world,” said a Spotify spokesperson. "Spotify will position KrOWN as the ultimate destination for K-hip-hop listeners around the world, helping it serve as a brand that symbolizes the hottest of South Korea’s hip-hop scene.” Meanwhile, Spotify has featured ‘Dynamic Duo’ - recognized as a testament to K-hip-hop’s past, present and future - as the first artist to be featured on the cover of KrOWN. 

Spotify has been connecting Korean hip-hop artists with global listeners in various ways, including its K-Pop Hub dedicated to introducing playlists related to Korean music and artists. In particular, Spotify continues to present its editorial playlists specific to K-hip-hop, such as TrenChill K-Hip Hop, K’illin’, From Bottom to Top, and Jazzy Hip-Hop, while supporting a wide range of Korean hip-hop artists both on platform and offline - including global billboard promotions in symbolic locations including the New York Times Square.