As a result of this viral moment, Wave to Earth saw its Spotify monthly listeners skyrocket, surpassing some of South Korea‘s most established artists, including IU. As of Tuesday, Wave to Earth boasts over 6.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, compared to IU’s 5 million.
Hong Jong-hee, head of communications at TikTok Korea, emphasized the crucial role of the Southeast Asian market in K-pop’s global spread.
“Southeast Asian creators have a significant global influence because they frequently and explosively reproduce Korean content in their unique style. On TikTok, Southeast Asia is the leading region for the production and consumption of K-content, with Indonesia ranking first and Thailand also standing out,” Hong said on Tuesday. “The power of TikTok in Southeast Asia is incomparable to that in South Korea.”
Despite Indonesia’s larger music market due to its vast young population, Thailand wields greater influence on K-pop, thanks to its prominent K-pop artists like Ten of NCT, BamBam of Got7 and Lisa of Blackpink.
“Korean music labels have been recruiting Thai members to attract fans not only in Thailand but also in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV). For instance, YG Entertainment‘s recent moves with the K-pop girl group Baby Monster are a strategic effort to dominate the Thai market and, by extension, the CLMV region,” said Suwat Wuthichairattanaporn, a 20-year veteran of the Thai entertainment industry, on Tuesday. “It is a smart strategy to appeal to Southeast Asia, a dynamic and rapidly growing region within the global music industry.”
