Sadly, Spotify has removed several K-pop songs. Fans would have noticed that artists that come under Kakao M have been removed from the platform. Here’s why Spotify is removing K-pop songs.
Several people on Twitter made the Kakao M trend after they noticed some K-pop songs went missing from the streaming site. Fans noticed the songs of Kakao M artists were the only ones affected. They have been requesting Spotify to bring the songs back, and here’s what is happening at the moment.
Why did Spotify remove K-pop songs?
Spotify removed all the songs that came under Kakao M. It is revealed that the songs were removed because of the “expiration of the license,” as reported by NME. Unfortunately, the companies have not come to an agreement.
“We have been working with Kakao M over the last year and a half to renew the global licensing agreement so that their artists’ music would remain available to Spotify’s 345M+ listeners in nearly 170 markets around the world,” a spokesperson for Spotify told NME. “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.”
The statement continued, “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. We remain committed to working with local rights holders including KakaoM, to help grow the Korean music market and overall streaming ecosystem together.”
Artists that come under SM, YG, JYP and BigHit Entertainment will continue to stream their music on Spotify.
Kakao M Twitter trend explored
Fans have been expressing their feelings on Twitter after finding out that Spotify removed several K-pop songs. “kakao m: take half the kpop industry off spotify me screaming into my phone after 90% of my playlists have been deleted,” read one comment.
Another added, “Here are some of the artists that are heavily impacted from the Spotify – Kakao M disagreement. A gentle reminder that K-Pop is not just about the big 3 companies. These artists also contribute to the industry’s continuity, and we need them in Spotify just as much.”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME SPOTIFY? KAKAO M? CAN YOU PLEASE WORK THINGS OUT BECAUSE I MADE MY ULTIMATE KPOP PLAYLISTS TODAY AND I NEED ALL THESE ARTISTS BACK ON THERE THIS IS SO SAD,” said another.