Spotify has launched a colorful personality quiz designed to help K-pop fans determine their persona. For those unfamiliar with the K-pop term or its Jungian roots, a “persona” refers to the distinct, public-facing role of each member of a band. The feature leans into K-pop’s status as a major area of growth in the global music industry, which Spotify has been eager to tap into.
The five-question quiz, which fans can take inside the Spotify app, will identify whether you’re a Main Visual, a Main Vocal, a Main Rapper, a Main Dancer, or a Trainee. In a callout to K-pop fan culture, the quiz will also generate a photocard (similar to the band-specific trading cards) with your results that you can share on social media. The feature will be available on Spotify until May 10th.
The rise of K-pop as a global music phenomenon over the past decade is well-documented, and the genre certainly hasn’t lost momentum in the US. Last year, K-pop became the third most popular language of music consumed in the US, according to entertainment data firm Luminate. The US is also the second-largest importer of K-pop music in the world, directly behind Japan.
Similar to how Spotify courts Swifties and other vocal fanbases with interactive features and special playlists, the streaming service hasn’t forgotten devotees of BTS or NewJeans. Although the top 10 most streamed songs and albums last year on Spotify were mostly from the US, international genres, including K-pop, música mexicana, Afrobeats, Indian classical instrumental music and others, rack up millions of streams globally.
The streaming service noted that streams of the K-pop genre, since 2018, have increased by over 180 percent in the United States and over 360 percent worldwide. Just as English-speaking acts like The Weeknd or Miley Cyrus resonate with fan bases in Asia and South America, it seems wise for Spotify to acknowledge the rampant popularity of international acts like the K-pop group Blackpink and the Colombian singer Karol G within the US.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/24138370/spotify-launches-k-pop-persona-quiz