Acts with most spotify streams in the first half of 2022
BTS 3,804 million (in the old days a billion was a million million.)
Twice 876m (figures under a million truncated.)
Blackpink 745m
Stray Kids 713
txt 498
Enhypen 440
Seventeen 400
(Lisa 310)
Red Velvet 301
Itzy 289
IU 265
Total 8641 million
BTS 44%
JYP acts 1878 - 21.7%
SM act 301 - 3.5%
Edam act 265 - 3.1%
And even more concerning is quite a few of the above are 3rd Generation acts (Twice, BlackPink incl Lalisa, Seventeen and Red Velvet) and even a 2nd Generation act (Kpop's greatest freeloader who sneaked into this list with the general ebb of KPop rising though no effort of her own).
4Gen only occupies 1940, or 22.5%.
Twice re-signing is this year and Blackpink's is next year . I believe all members of RV had re-signed. However in 2-3 years the current 3rd gen acts will meet challenges. KPop's Greatest Freeloader coattailed into some international success because a rising tide lifts all ships, but with the post-BTS i-fans beginning to cool their attitude towards KPop, the Freeloader is unikely to maintain her current position in spotify.
So, in 2025, the 3rd Gen acts would have retreated, and the Freeloader would have been made largely irrelevant as far as spotify is concerned.
Which means the 4th gen now have to expand by about 400% to absorb all the grounds which had been gained to maintain the current position Kpop has on the general global population.
Will they make it? It will be a big act to follow.
