Kakao M and Spotify renew agreement
Early this month, K-pop fans had a rude shock when their favourite tunes were removed from Spotify due to a lapsed licensing agreement between the streaming platform and Kakao M.Â
On 11th March, Kakao M and Spotify decided to renew their licensing agreement, much to the relief of K-pop fans.
With this new agreement, hundreds of songs distributed by Kakao M will be available on Spotify once more. Songs that were pulled from Spotify include tracks by artists such as IU, Mamamoo and Seventeen.
Dispute between the 2 companies
On 1st March, Spotify users were shocked when they realised that their favourite K-pop songs disappeared from the streaming platform. This was due to a lapsed licensing agreement between Kakao M and Spotify. Some fans then turned to alternative K-pop streaming services to listen to their favourite tunes.
Both Spotify and Kakao M released statements in response to this –Â Kakao M claimed that Spotify had refused to renew the agreement and Spotify claimed that they have tried their best to negotiate.
Image adapted from: @bungoshinsu and @ItsMattBartlett
Image adapted from: @nyeongnight
The removal of hundreds of K-pop songs angered fans, and many threatened to cancel their Spotify subscription plans because of this.Â
Image adapted from: @blobyblo
Tablo, who’s part of the band Epik High, also expressed his displeasure.
Fans react to K-pop being restored on Spotify
Image adapted from: @greynblues and @borahwa
K-pop fans are elated to know that the previously removed songs will be back on Spotify again. There hasn’t been any updates on when the songs will be restored, but at least we can rest easy knowing that they will be back sometime soon.
Hopefully, this situation won’t repeat itself in the future.
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Cover image adapted from: Spotify