K-pop: Groups vs. Soloists — Who's Winning Streaming in 2025?
For the first time, solo K-pop acts are collectively outpacing their parent groups on Spotify. We break down the numbers — and what it means for each major market.
In 2025, a quiet but significant shift happened in K-pop's streaming landscape: solo acts from K-pop's biggest groups began outperforming the parent groups themselves on Spotify. JENNIE solo (41.7M) beats BLACKPINK (25.7M). Jungkook solo frequently outperforms BTS. This isn't an accident — it reflects changing listener behavior, evolving promotional strategies, and the maturation of K-pop's global audience. The city-by-city breakdown shows how this split plays out across 21 markets.
Why Soloists Are Winning on Spotify
Group streaming in K-pop is historically driven by coordinated fan campaigns tied to comebacks — short, intense bursts of activity. Solo releases, by contrast, can be promoted continuously as personal brands. JENNIE's partnership with luxury brands means her music plays in contexts that have nothing to do with K-pop fandoms: fashion shows, retail stores, lifestyle playlists. This ambient streaming builds monthly listener counts independently of fan campaigns. Groups get the spikes; soloists get the floor.
The Exceptions: When Groups Still Win
Japan and the Philippines are two markets where groups consistently outperform soloists. Japan's idol culture prioritizes the group contract — fans feel loyalty to the formation, not the individual. The Philippines' K-pop culture, built around cover dancing and group fancam archives, similarly ties identity to the group unit. In these markets, a BLACKPINK comeback will always outperform a JENNIE solo drop in raw first-week numbers.
4th Gen's Different Equation
For 4th generation groups (aespa, ITZY, NewJeans, ILLIT), the soloist vs. group question is just beginning. These groups haven't yet had the extended runs that would push members toward solo careers in the way 3rd-gen acts have. Their streaming numbers are overwhelmingly group-driven, and fan communities are built around the unit. The question of whether 4th-gen soloists will replicate the 3rd-gen pattern is the most important unsettled question in K-pop streaming right now.
What This Means for Labels
The data presents a challenge for K-pop labels: group albums are more expensive to produce, coordinate, and promote, but they increasingly play second fiddle to soloist releases on streaming platforms. HYBE, SM, and YG have all responded by expanding their solo debut pipelines. Whether this accelerates or undermines group cohesion will be the defining structural tension of K-pop's next chapter.
Groups vs. Soloists by City: Where the Split Lives
21 CITIESLocal context for K-pop fan communities in each city.