‘We’re going up, up, up’: K-pop dominated Canada’s YouTube viewing trends in 2025

This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Mira, Rumi, Zoey in a scene from "KPop Demon Hunters." (Netflix via AP)

If YouTube’s year-end data is any clue, Canada is deeply in its K-pop era.

The streaming platform says Netflix’s hit animated musical film “KPop Demon Hunters” was a major driver of engagement in 2025, with several of its tracks becoming Canada’s most-watched music videos and shorts.

Meanwhile, “APT” — American singer Bruno Mars’ collaboration with K-pop star Rosé — ranked as the country’s top song of the year. It also became the fastest K-pop track to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, beating “Gangnam Style.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” songs including “Golden,” “How It’s Done” and “Soda Pop” also cracked the top songs list, with the latter additionally ranking among the country’s most-watched shorts, which are YouTube’s vertical short-form videos.

A slowed-down version of Brazilian funk song “Passo Bem Solto,” by Italian producer Atlxs, was Canada’s most-watched short.

“KPop Demon Hunters” — produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix — is the debut film from Korean-Canadian director Maggie Kang.

Netflix says it’s the streaming giant’s most popular film of all time, racking up more than 236 million views.

The film’s soundtrack also made history this year, becoming the first movie soundtrack to land four songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 at the same time in the chart’s 67-year history.

In an interview with the Canadian Press this year, Kang said it felt “pretty wild” to watch the film become a global hit after spending her childhood hiding her love of K-pop as a Korean immigrant growing up in 1990s Toronto.

“I remember hiding my K-pop albums from my white friends because they thought it was weird and silly,” recalled Kang, who moved from Seoul to Canada at age five and was raised in the North York area.

“But I was like, ‘No, this is great.”’

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2025.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press