Melon too (6.77m users vs. 6.04 yt music users). But even then Spotify is like the 6th most used music streaming service in SK, it's very unpopular relative to the West.
I'm also shocked that Lee Hi song is so popular on spotify, I'd never even heard of it before now. I looked it up on Melon and it peaked at 62 on the daily chart and didn't even make the weekly chart. It seems like a very atypical song to blow up among ifans.
Probably because Spotify was late in the game, I guess around 2021 when it was available in SK. Subscription is about 10,000-16,000 won, a little expensive compared to the other streaming services. Plus it doesn't have free tier compared to youtube.
Also due to licensing issue with Kakao, a number of artists including IU was removed from they libary for a bit in March 2021.
Lee Hi is from YG but one of my favorite song from her is "Breathe" written by Jonghyun. ❤