YouTube 2025 Year-End Recap: K-Content, New Artists, and Gaming Dominate Global Trends

Global video community YouTube has unveiled its 2025 year-end wrap-up, revealing key trends across popular topics, top creators, hit songs, and trending Shorts music.

This year's report highlights the ever-growing global influence of K-content, alongside the significant rise of emerging artists and the enduring popularity of gaming content on the platform.

**K-Content Conquers YouTube and Beyond**

Three K-content titles—'K-pop Demon Hunters,' 'Tropics in Your Ear' ( 폭싹 속았수다), and 'Squid Game'—made it onto the list of most popular topics in Korea. This demonstrates K-content's power in expanding fandom culture and driving extensive fan-created content and consumption. 'Squid Game' and 'K-pop Demon Hunters' notably topped the popular topics charts in most surveyed countries, proving their widespread appeal.

**Emergence of New Artists and Gaming**

Gaming content also showed remarkable popularity. 'Roblox' maintained its strong presence, while 'Mabinogi Mobile,' a successful mobile adaptation of a classic PC game, garnered explosive interest upon its release. New stars also found their stage, with debut artists from 'All Day Project' and 'Hearts to Hearts,' along with 'Mr. Trot 3' winner Kim Yong-bin, capturing viewers' hearts and gaining significant attention.

**Creators Shine with Authenticity and Originality**

In the 'Top Creators' category, Choo Sung-hoon ChooSungHoon secured the top spot with his candid and humorous daily life content. Comedian Lee Su-ji 핫이슈지, known for her persona comedy reflecting societal trends, ranked second. Chef Sung Anh, showcasing both authenticity and uniqueness, came in sixth, and Jeong Seo-bul-an Kim Haemjji, who depicted realistic office life through an AI hamster character, placed seventh. These rankings reflect viewers' strong interest in creators with genuine charm and innovative content ideas.

**Music Charts: K-Pop's Undeniable Presence**

The 'Top Songs' chart saw 'K-pop Demon Hunters' OSTs dominate, with 'Golden' (1st), 'Soda Pop' (3rd), and 'Your Idol' (10th) making strong appearances. WOODZ's 'Drowning' (2nd), Jo Jj's 'Do You Know?' (4th), and MAKTUB's 'Beginning of a Dream' (6th) also gained traction, underscoring YouTube's role in connecting new artists with audiences. The continued popularity of global K-pop stars like G-DRAGON, IVE, and BLACKPINK was also evident on the charts.

**Shorts: A Playground for Dance Challenges and K-Pop**

On the 'Top Shorts Music' list, 'K-pop Demon Hunters'' 'Soda Pop' (1st) and 'Golden' (2nd) were heavily utilized in dance covers, cosplay, and POV content, inspiring numerous Shorts creators. Global dance challenge tracks like 'PASSO BEM SOLTO' (3rd) and 'chess' (7th) were popular, alongside K-pop dance challenges featuring BLACKPINK's 'JUMP' (5th) and IVE's 'REBEL HEART' (6th). The platform also facilitated unique success stories, such as indie artist Hyunseo's 'Spring Dream' (9th), which gained traction through Shorts and led to a song release, showcasing the format's potential.

Korean netizens reacted positively to the YouTube year-end report, with comments like 'K-content power is amazing!' and 'Squid Game and Tropics in Your Ear were popular as expected!' Many also expressed joy in discovering new artists. There was significant discussion about the top creators, with fans praising Choo Sung-hoon, saying 'Choo Sung-hoon is truly the best,' and comedian Lee Su-ji, noting 'Lee Su-ji's comedy is hilarious.'