One in 2 South Koreans listen to their music via paid streaming services -- the highest rate among 13 surveyed countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, the Recording Industry Association of Korea said Monday.
Among South Koreans, 50 percent of South Koreans said they have used such paid streaming services in the past six months, higher than the average across the 13 countries of 37 percent. Some 41 percent of Koreans said they were using such services now.
Industry sources said such a high rate is attributed to convenient mobile and internet network system with aggressive marketing by mobile carriers that offer various advantages such as discounted membership fees and free data, pulling people away from downloading music.