KakaoM decided to remove K-Pop songs from the streaming music app Spotify. This made K-Pop lovers around the world excited and became a hot topic of conversation.
KakaoM became trending on Twitter after it decided to remove K-Pop songs from Spotify. On Monday (1/3), it was reported that a song distributed by KakaoM had been removed from Spotify because there was no agreement between the two parties.
This news certainly makes K-Pop lovers around the world excited. Artists distributing their own songs were not affected but many popular K-Pop artists including Seventeen, IU, MONSTA X, MAMAMOO and Epik High were affected by this policy change. All songs from this group released through KakaoM are no longer available for streaming on Spotify.
On March 1, Spotify representatives have released a statement. Reported by NME (British media), "The KakaoM catalog will no longer be available to users worldwide starting March 1, 2021 due to the expiration of our license. We have been working with KakaoM for the past year and a half to renew the global licensing agreement, so that their artists' music will remains available to more than 345 million Spotify listeners in nearly 170 markets worldwide. "
"Despite our best efforts, the licensing agreement we have with Kakao M which covers all countries apart from South Korea has ended. The fact that we have not yet reached a new global agreement is very unfortunate for their artists, as well as for fans and listeners around the world," continued Spotify party.
"We hope this disruption is 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 the streaming ecosystem as a whole together," Spotify continued.
"I couldn't find IU's song, it's a shame," wrote one netizen. "So the point is, KakaoM which owns Melon refuses to stream their songs on Spotify Korea, so Spotify is deleting all Kakao M songs on their platform globally? I don't understand why this is," said another netizen./wowkeren.com
