The Korea Fair Trade Commission headquarters in Sejong, South Korea. Photo Credit: Minseong Kim
YouTube is reportedly set to unbundle Music from Premium in South Korea, where it’s facing a Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) competition investigation.
Regional outlets just recently pointed to the possible move, after the mentioned government agency revealed a YouTube Premium and Music probe about one year ago. This bundling-focused inquiry, the KFTC relayed at the time, had already been underway for a while and was shifting into the “sanctions” phase.
(YouTube is specifically facing claims of leveraging its video-sharing dominance into anti-competitive results on the streaming side, where it’s reportedly topped homegrown music platforms including Melon in overall subscribers.)
Enter the rumored separation of YouTube Music (which costs ₩11,990/$8.40 monthly) from Premium (₩14,900/$10.50 per month) in South Korea.
At the time of writing, neither YouTube nor the KFTC looked to have publicly confirmed the split. However, the two are reportedly finalizing an agreement to put the years-running probe to rest.
And as part of the potential resolution, YouTube has reportedly volunteered the rollout of Premium Lite in South Korea. In effect, releasing the subscription option (which costs less than Premium but provides ad-free access solely to YouTube proper, excluding Music and most music videos) would separate Music from Premium.
Technically, the Google-owned platform resurrected Lite, which lacks support for downloads and background viewing, last year. And the tier’s expansion has reached several countries to this point in 2025.
As laid out by some local reports, South Korea’s Premium subscribers may opt for the cheaper plan while then shifting to different services for music streaming. Nevertheless, others acknowledged that YouTube might actually entrench its position in the country thanks to the lower-cost plan.
In the bigger picture, as competition scrutiny motivated the unbundling, it’s unclear whether the maneuver will ripple across different markets.
Even so, the development is significant from the perspective of South Korea’s regulatory climate. The KFTC, which fined Kakao Entertainment ₩390 million/$273,350 last month “for deceptively advertising music,” is also cracking down on streaming services’ subscription-cancellation practices.
This probe, we reported in August 2024, is impacting Netflix, Spotify, and others yet. A late entrant into South Korea’s physical-heavy market, Spotify only embraced ad-supported listening in the country about six months ago.
But the platform charges a bit less for Individual than YouTube Music does (₩10,900 per month at present) and is offering three-month free trials to new subscribers.
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