The Secret Behind the Success of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’? It’s Controversy-Free

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s 2025 draws to an end, the year’s biggest albums will feature some familiar names — Morgan, Taylor, Sabrina — and one out-of-nowhere smash. KPop Demon Hunters, the soundtrack to the Netflix animated film about a fictional, evil-slaying girl group, is poised to land in the top 20 of the most-consumed albums in the U.S. As K-pop hits go, the soundtrack has outpaced the genre’s superstar artists, racking up more streams in its first 11 weeks of release than the highest-performing songs by BTS and Blackpink did in theirs. And it’s all been buoyed by a passionate audience that helped to make the movie Netflix’s biggest title ever.

That the plot of Demon Hunters centers on superfans — in the movie’s colorful world, Huntr/x use their voices to battle enemy boy band Saja Boys, each supported by an army of devotees — is somewhat ironic, considering there was no fan base to speak of before the movie’s June release. And that’s exactly what helped the franchise succeed. While K-pop is a multibillion-dollar global business, it’s often troubled by so-called “antis,” who pit musical groups — and their respective companies — against one another in what’s become an impediment to wide acclaim.

The film plays with the expression of fandom realistically: passionate, screaming, consumerist, maybe even a little fickle in deciding which group they love more. To make the story fully work, the music needed to be pretty believable. With songs that boast writing credits from the likes of Ejae, Teddy Park, Jenna Andrews, and more K-pop hitmakers, the soundtrack delivered just that: Both Huntr/x’s “Golden” and Saja Boys’ “Soda Pop” sat in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 for weeks, with the former beginning its reign at Number One in mid-August.

“The success of the film, and its accompanying soundtrack, provides an interesting case study following a summer where new music failed to make its usual impact on the charts,” says Lexi Chicles, senior manager of insights at Luminate. “It illustrates a growing transmedia ecosystem, one where streaming-video content on a platform like Netflix might have more influence on music consumption than more traditional marketing campaigns heard on radio or seen on social media.”

According to Luminate, the soundtrack had become “single-handedly responsible for around 43 percent of U.S. K-pop streaming volume” by early August, meaning that the songs from a film few had heard of when 2025 began were nearly as successful as every other K-pop artist combined this year.

“Nothing’s ever gone this big off of a Netflix property,” a high-ranking K-pop executive tells Rolling Stone, noting how little marketing had been done around the film at the time of its release. Much of the discovery happened through word of mouth, leading up to a mid-July spike in album streams. “It’s pure K-pop. There are no fan wars. There are no label wars. There’s no artist drama. There’s none of the issues that groups face amongst each other.”

Demon Hunters’ soundtrack does exist more or less completely outside of the K-pop machine. While it features two songs by real-life heavyweights Twice, it was released on Savan Kotecha’s Visva Records in partnership with Republic (home to Taylor Swift), and not a big K-pop company like Hybe or YG. The film itself was made by people who had been longtime fans of the genre. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were inspired to make the film after watching BTS’ livestreamed concerts during the pandemic. “We were thinking about how we dramatize the idea of music as a way to fight against bad things in the world,” Appelhans says. As K-pop hits go, this success was notably Western-made.

In the fantasy-tinged world they created, Huntr/x are the latest in a long lineage of demon-hunting trios who use their voices to create a barrier between innocent souls and the underworld. They meet their foes in the Saja Boys, a group of demons who are trying to take down Huntr/x once and for all.

Both directors have observed stan-worthy deep dives on social media, especially in TikTok videos, where fans are combing through moments of foreshadowing or character details that the filmmakers weaved into the story with love.

“It feels pretty similar to any other K-pop fan base, which is incredible,” Kang adds. “I’ve seen fans just embrace this movie as K-pop content and even talk about Huntr/x as if they are real idols.”

Building a phenomenon

But even as demon-hunting trio Rumi, Mira, and Zoey face their own pressures in the film, those don’t mirror the real-life responsibilities of idols who, as the name implies, are expected to present as well-behaved and controversy-free. The mental-health struggles of idols have been well-documented since K-pop’s explosion, leading some artists to speak out or to avoid a public life at all.

“The romantic component of this story couldn’t happen in K-pop,” the industry insider continues, referring to the flirtation between Rumi and Saja Boys’ Jinu. “Relationships aren’t discussed. It’s different [from] being a [Western] pop star.”

Outside of individual pressure, the wars between K-pop labels have bled into how superfans of the genre interact online, sparring over their favorites’ chart positions and successes. At times, the division has created toxicity in the overall community, making some hardcore fans feel the need to devote their energy to just one act above all else.

“It’s easy to get online and say certain things, but I think it’s just fans being so proud of their band,” says Stephen Kirk who co-wrote two songs for the soundtrack. “We’re so divided as a planet right now. This movie felt so unifying. It just goes to show that people want to be connected. We don’t want to be against each other.”

KPop Demon Hunters is proving that a genre once — rightly or wrongly — deemed too niche to crossover in the Western market can create a monocultural moment. By September, the film had reached nearly 300 million views, outperforming every other title in the history of Netflix. A sing-along version was released in theaters this August, topping the box office and bringing in $19.2 million across 1,700 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, making it Netflix’s most successful theatrical release to date. By October, it was big enough to be parodied by Bad Bunny on SNL.

“This could be like Star Wars or Frozen,” Kirk’s co-writer, Jenna Andrews, says. Netflix is rumored to be planning a sequel. “Hopefully, it continues for the next dec­ade,” Andrews adds.

Even in South Korea, the crossover success of the film can be felt. “The K-pop community is very excited about it,” says the industry source. “I haven’t spoken to a label that’s not trying to get involved in some way, shape, or form. The artists think it’s great because it’s showing a casual listener that you can listen to a song that’s in part Korean and part English and love it and stream it every day. It creates opportunities for everyone.”