Blackpink Leads The List Of Top Five Most Subscribed K-Pop Artists On YouTube

As K-pop tracks gain increasing popularity across the globe, YouTube has become an important barometer to measure the success of Korean artists. Entertainment companies often look to YouTube to gauge the level of acceptance of new releases, especially those that are intended for an international audience. Here is a list of the five most followed K-pop artists on YouTube.

1. Blackpink

Blackpink fans, known as BLINKS, recently celebrated on social media after the K-pop group became YouTube’s first artist to surpass 70 million subscribers. Since the launch of their YouTube channel on June 28, 2016, the group saw a steady rise in the number of subscribers even as views on their music videos continued to soar.

The “How You Like That” singing group was hailed as YouTube’s most subscribed artist Sunday. Blackpink currently has 70.1 million subscribers and their most-viewed video to date is “Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du” with 1.7 billion views. The band, composed of Lisa, Jennie, Rose and Jisoo, edged out Justin Bieber who has 66.4 million subscribers on the platform, to secure the top spot.

2. BTS

BTS may have already won three American Music Awards but they come only second to Blackpink with 61.3 million subscribers. The Bangtan Boys, the first artist to have four sold-out concerts in SoFi stadium, lists “Mic Drop” as their most viewed video with over 1 billion views.

3. Psy

Anyone who has been following K-pop for a while now knows that Psy paved the way for South Korean artists to break into the international scene in the early 2010s with his smash hit, “Gangnam Style.” Psy’s YouTube channel, launched in October 2010, has accumulated 15.3 million subscribers and counts “Gangnam Style” as its most viewed track, with 4.2 billion views. The well-loved track, made even more popular by its easy-to-follow dance steps, placed No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2012.

4. Big Bang

Although the band is currently on hiatus after they were discharged from mandatory military service in 2019, Big Bang is still regarded as the “Kings of K-pop.”

The group has 13.9 million subscribers with “Bang Bang Bang” as their most viewed video with 566 million views. Released in 2016, the popularity of “Bang Bang Bang” surged anew after its dance steps trended on TikTok users last year.

5. TWICE

This girl group, who debuted in 2015, recently celebrated an important milestone after their newly-launched album "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" landed at No. 3 on Billboard 200 last month. On YouTube, they have accumulated 12.5 million subscribers and their most viewed music video is “I Can’t Stop Me,” with 381 million views.