Hundreds of popular K-pop songs have been removed from Spotify, amid a dispute with South Korean music distributor Kakao M, and releases by popular acts including Sistar, IU, Monsta X and Epik High have vanished, leaving fans frustrated.
Spotify said its “existing licensing deal” with Kakao M had “come to an end” but it hoped the disruption would be temporary.
However, the Korean company accused Spotify of not extending its licence.
Kakao M is South Korea’s top music distributor, responsible for 37.5% of the songs featured in the country’s Top 400 Yearly Song Chart in 2020.
It also owns and operates the country’s top music streaming service, MelOn, with 8.81 million monthly active users.
The music is still available on services like Deezer and Apple Music.
Huge Turmoil for fans
The dispute prompted anger from some of the artists whose work was affected, due to this removal.
“Why is it always the artists and the fans that suffer when businesses place greed over art?” said Tablo, the leader and producer of hip-hop band Epik High.
He said the sudden removal of their most recent album, January’s Epik High Is Here (Part 1), was “against our will”.
What exactly the situation persists?
In a statement, Spotify confirmed Kakao M’s music was no longer available worldwide.
“Despite our best efforts, the existing licensing deal we had with Kakao M (which covered all countries other than South Korea) has come to an end,” it said.
“The fact that we have not yet reached agreement on a new global deal is unfortunate for their artists, as well as for fans and listeners worldwide. It is our hope that this disruption will be temporary and we can resolve the situation soon.”
However, later that same morning, Kakao M countered with its own statement, in which it claimed that Spotify had been the one who chose not to renew their agreement, even after a request on Kakao M’s
Negotiations are still ongoing
It suggested the move was also linked to ongoing conversations over the availability of their music on the South Korean version of Spotify, which launched four years ago.
“Unrelated to the domestic contract, which we are still negotiating, we separately received notice of the expiration of our license on February 28, and we requested a renewal of our existing global contract.
“We are currently continuing our negotiations about the supply of music.”
Well, it clearly states that the negotiation can jump onto some conclusion.
Among the artists whose discographies have at least partially disappeared are IU, Seventeen, Nu’est, Mamamoo, Epik High, Monsta X, Apink, Zico, Block B, Lovelyz, Brave Girls, CNBlue, Younha and many others.
