Melon, a Korean music streaming service, appeared to have no competitors until a few years ago, with its market share approaching 50% in 2018, according to data tracker Nielsen Koreanclick. However, YouTube Music, a streaming service launched by the global video sharing site YouTube in 2018, is posing a threat to its dominance.
According to big data platform Mobile Index, YouTube Music had the third-largest market share in Korea (19.22 percent) in December, trailing only Melon (37.28 percent) and Genie (37.28 percent) (19.24 percent). Other homegrown platforms such as FLO (13.31 percent) and VIBE (13.31 percent) were beaten out by the relatively new service, which debuted with a 1.7 percent share in 2019. (4.08 percent).
There was also a significant increase in the number of monthly active users (MAU). On January 1, 2021, its MAU was around 630,000, but by December 1, it had risen to 1.26 million, a 97 percent growth in just a year.
The fact that YouTube Premium customers get free access to YouTube Music is cited as a major factor in the platform's growing popularity. YouTube Premium is a premium membership program that allows consumers to watch YouTube clips without commercials.
"I discovered YouTube Music after subscribing to YouTube Premium, and I am extremely happy with its services," one user said in an online forum. "Its sound quality and song suggestion mechanism are extremely appealing to me."
YouTube Music also has a large selection of video music, including live performances and cover songs.
Another user stated, "For me, using YouTube Music is the ideal way to experience live acts that were previously exclusively available on YouTube." "This type of content is not available on other streaming platforms."
Others, on the other hand, believe there is potential for development, pointing out that the service currently lacks lyrics for many K-pop songs.
A YouTube Music representative told The Korea Times on Monday that the platform will "continue to participate in diverse events" in 2022.
"Through our 'Artist on the Rise' initiative and 'Remastering Project,' YouTube Music contributed to the expansion of the Korean music business and artists last year," the official stated. YouTube Music recreated historic K-pop music videos and songs in collaboration with K-pop heavyweight SM Entertainment, and backed countless up-and-coming musicians with its "Artist on the Rise" initiative.
"This year, we'll continue to play a variety of roles in order to broaden our presence here."
Nonetheless, in 2022, the rivalry among streaming services will be fierce, with several of them attempting to break through with innovative techniques. Bugs Music, which had a 2.37 percent market share in 2021, will generate unique content by releasing a series of music dramas with its partners. Its first production, "Soundtrack #1," will premiere later this year, starring singer-actor Park Hyung-sik and actress Han So-hee.
Melon is planning to improve its music recommendation system based on user data, and Genie is planning to feature content that combines music and its audio services. In addition, the latter intends to launch new enterprises including artificial intelligence (AI), the metaverse, and non-fungible tokens (NFT).
