How ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ finally got Americans to listen to K-Pop

“I have gone through a whole variety of kids’ music like ‘Baby Shark’ that always made my ears bleed," she joked.

That changed in June, when Netflix released the animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters." “The songs are so catchy," Pine said.

While Korean pop has been topping the U.S. album chart since 2018, it had never hooked Pine. But as she kept “jamming out" to tracks from “KPop Demon Hunters," she started looking for more music from a style that’s become a global powerhouse. Now she listens to the group Blackpink with her daughter, especially the racing single “Jump": “It’s a crowd-pleaser."

The soundtrack to “KPop Demon Hunters," which follows Korean girl group HUNTR/X and demonic boy band Saja Boys as they battle with songs and swords, is one of the year’s most unexpected success stories, a runaway hit that no one predicted would earn more than 3.3 billion streams in the U.S. and transform a trio of lesser-known singers into global stars.

It has also pushed K-pop further into the American consciousness, attracting some fans who, like Pine, had never dabbled in the genre before.

Other acts associated with K-pop have broken through alongside the soundtrack. Rosé’s “APT.", a clap-happy collaboration with Bruno Mars, was nominated for record of the year and song of the year at the Grammys. Katseye, an international girl group assembled by Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company, along with an American label, Geffen Records, was the top artist of 2025 on TikTok. These acts borrowed shrewdly from American hits—the hard-charging “APT." sounds like it could have come out on a Lady Gaga album, while the reggae-pop of Katseye’s “Gabriela" evokes the group Fifth Harmony.

The music in “KPop Demon Hunters" proved especially effective at galvanizing discovery: On Spotify, close to 40% of first-time K-pop listeners discovered the genre through the movie soundtrack since its release in June, according to data from the streaming service. In the U.S., average weekly streams of K-pop catalog songs—defined as more than 18 months old—have seen a noticeable increase of around 14% since the film’s release, according to Luminate, the music data company.

The movie “mainstreamed K-pop culture in a great way" in the U.S., said Savan Kotecha, whose label Visva Records released the soundtrack in conjunction with Republic Records.

“KPop Demon Hunters" packed theaters for singalong screenings, Halloween costumes based on the film flew off the shelf and Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singers who voice HUNTR/X, recently performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for the movie and its music will keep both in the spotlight in the early months of 2026.

K-pop artists had never scored nominations in the Grammys’ marquee categories before 2025, even though some Americans have been listening to the genre for years. BTS, the genre’s best-known boy band, can fill U.S. stadiums. The group has released six No. 1 albums, and other ensembles including Stray Kids, Ateez and Twice have also topped the Billboard 200—Stray Kids has done it eight times.

These acts are especially adept at selling CDs. In 2024, K-pop groups accounted for nine of the top 10 albums ranked by global physical sales, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

But in the U.S., many of these million-sellers are still not household names. Die-hard K-pop fans will often purchase multiple “variants" of a release, each with different artwork or bonus songs. That allows the genre’s core followers to accentuate their impact stateside, especially during an album’s all-important debut week; according to a Billboard survey of K-pop fans, 44% said they buy copies to help their favorite acts “get a good position on the album chart."

It’s been significantly harder for K-pop devotees to move the needle in the same way on streaming services, limiting the number of breakout hits from the genre in the U.S. Historically, only BTS or solo members of the group managed to top the Hot 100 songs chart, and mostly just for one week before ceding the No. 1 position.

“K-pop artists do a really good job selling albums," said Hye Jin Lee, a professor at USC Annenberg who teaches a class on the genre. “But to feel like it’s mainstream [in the U.S.], the music has to be heard, whether in streaming platforms or on radio. A lot of K-pop companies are trying to figure out: How can we increase listenership on streaming platforms?"

One time-honored way to do that is by teaming up with American artists. In 2023, Jung Kook from BTS hit No. 1 on Spotify’s U.S. top 50 with “Seven," which made room for a frisky verse from the rapper Latto. Last year, Rosé, who is also a member of Blackpink, hit the same mark with an assist from Mars.

“KPop Demon Hunters" cracked the code for stateside streaming success without help from American stars. HUNTR/X’s “Golden" ascended to No. 1 on Spotify’s top 50 in the U.S. and held the spot for 70 days, far longer than any other K-pop track before it. “You can’t hear it without tapping a toe, bobbing a head or getting up and doing the full choreography," said Will Coss, executive producer of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The week the movie soundtrack climbed to No. 1 on the albums chart, Billboard reported that it racked up more than 141 million streams across all its songs. This defied the pattern for most K-pop releases. For comparison’s sake, Ateez and Twice both hit No. 1 last year with albums that earned less than 7 million total streams, and Stray Kids topped the chart in November with less than 14 million.

Part of the reason for the streaming success of “KPop Demon Hunters" music in the U.S., of course, is that it came wrapped up in an easily accessible film that kids obsessed over. Gwen Rhoades, 44, said her daughter watched “KPop Demon Hunters" when it came out—and then several more times the same weekend: “She just had it streaming nonstop."

“Being on Netflix is a bigger platform for the music to have exposure," noted Grace Mak, 45, a longtime K-pop fan. “And it being an animated series in English, so that there are no subtitles involved, really helps." Listeners didn’t care that both HUNTR/X and Saja Boys—whose “Your Idol" also topped Spotify’s U.S. top 50—are animated creations that only exist in the movie.

Beyond the songs appearing in Netflix’s biggest film to date, they’re also more approachable than some traditional K-pop, which lets them serve as a gateway into the genre for some curious American listeners.

Hannah McMechan and Danya Jimenez, who co-wrote the screenplay for “KPop Demon Hunters," had little familiarity with the musical culture before working on the movie. They quickly “fell into a K-hole" while doing research for the film. McMechan is now all-in on Stray Kids—“her boys."

Jimenez made her way through BTS’s 2020 album “Be" and watched the video for the single “Life Goes On." “I remember them being in the car driving somewhere beautiful," she said. “And I was like, ‘I want to drive somewhere beautiful with them. Where are you guys going?’"

Historically, some U.S. listeners have struggled to embrace K-pop because of the language barrier, or found the genre’s melodic digressions and stop-start rhythms jarring, as if three songs are crammed into one.

“K-pop allows you to do a lot of different musical patterns and changes," explained Jenna Andrews, who co-wrote a pair of songs in “KPop Demon Hunters" along with BTS’s “Butter," which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2021. By contrast, in a U.S. pop hit, “you can do four chords the whole time," or just loop a single section of music over and over.

The music in “Kpop Demon Hunters" managed to balance those frenetic shifts with “enough stability melodically to bridge the gap with Top 40 pop," said Kotecha, who is also an accomplished songwriter with credits on hits for One Direction and Ariana Grande.

He compared the racing, synth-drenched “Golden" to old Katy Perry singles such as “Roar" or “Firework." The shattering drums and menacing undercurrent in “Your Idol" evoke 2017 hits from Taylor Swift or Halsey.

Professor Lee described songs “Golden" and “Your Idol" as “K-pop-adjacent."

“The question is not only how this will impact American listeners and whether they’ll start to embrace K-pop, but also what the K-pop industry will do," she said. “Looking at all these songs from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ dominating the Billboard charts, how will it pivot?"

Write to Elias Leight at elias.leight@wsj.com