Summer in K-pop is no longer just about comeback stages and festival performances. This year, aespa and rising boy group CORTIS are helping define the season through sound itself.
Apple Music has launched its 2026 Summer Sound Campaign, featuring exclusive summer playlists personally curated by global K-pop girl group aespa and fast-rising boy group CORTIS. Announced on May 27, the campaign highlights how K-pop artists are increasingly shaping not only music charts, but also lifestyle moods, seasonal listening habits, and global pop culture taste.
AESPA Shares a Cool, Stylish Summer Playlist
Aespa, currently drawing attention ahead of its full-length comeback on May 29, joined the campaign with a playlist that reflects the group’s sleek and distinctive music taste.
The group recently gained buzz with the pre-release single “WDA (Whole Different Animal),” building anticipation for its upcoming new music. Through Apple Music’s summer campaign, aespa is offering fans a look beyond its own discography and into the sounds the members connect with during the season.
The playlist includes aespa’s new songs as well as tracks from artists such as Tame Impala, Portishead, and Sneaker Pimps. According to aespa , the playlist was designed for moments when listeners open the car window, feel the warm breeze, and want music that adds atmosphere to a summer drive.
That description fits aespa’s identity well. The group has long been known for blending futuristic visuals with stylish, genre-crossing sound. Instead of a typical bright summer playlist, aespa’s selection appears to lean into mood, texture, and a cooler kind of seasonal energy.
CORTIS Brings Youthful Energy With “Summer Bangers”
CORTIS is also joining the campaign with a playlist titled “Summer Bangers.”
The rookie boy group has been attracting attention since being selected for Shazam Fast Forward 2026 earlier this year, a program that spotlights emerging artists expected to gain momentum. Their participation in Apple Music’s summer campaign positions them as one of the new K-pop names to watch this season.
CORTIS’ playlist reflects a freer and more energetic summer mood. It includes the group’s own track “REDRED” along with songs from artists such as blink-182, Nirvana, and Dominic Fike. The selection moves across skate punk, house, and alternative sounds, showing a different side of K-pop’s current global influence. Rather than staying inside one genre, CORTIS appears to be presenting summer as something loud, youthful, and constantly moving.
The playlist also includes the members’ own reasons for recommending each track, giving fans a more personal way to connect with their music taste.
Why Apple Music’s Summer Campaign Matters
Apple Music’s Summer Sound Campaign has become a way for global artists to share exclusive playlists that capture different versions of summer.
For K-pop artists, participation in this kind of campaign carries extra meaning. It shows how groups like aespa and CORTIS are being positioned not only as performers, but also as tastemakers. A playlist can say a lot about an artist’s identity. It reveals influences, mood, personality, and the kind of world they want listeners to enter.
With aespa, the campaign highlights a polished, stylish, and atmospheric summer. With CORTIS, it shows a younger, more explosive sound built around movement and genre freedom.
K-Pop’s Summer Sound Is Expanding
The campaign also reflects how K-pop is expanding beyond traditional comeback promotion. Today’s global fans do not only follow title tracks. They follow artists’ playlists, fashion choices, social media habits, recommendations, and personal taste. That means music curation has become another way for K-pop acts to build identity and deepen fan connection.
Aespa and CORTIS represent two different sides of that shift. Aespa brings the confidence of a major global group preparing for a highly anticipated comeback. CORTIS brings the freshness of a rookie act building momentum with a trend-forward sound.
Together, their Apple Music playlists show that the sound of summer in 2026 is not fixed to one genre or mood. It can be dreamy, stylish, nostalgic, rebellious, energetic, and global all at once.
Apple Music’s 2026 Summer Sound Campaign featuring aespa and KORTIS is now set to give listeners a seasonal soundtrack shaped directly by two of K-pop’s most talked-about acts.