Spotify confirm hundreds of K-pop tracks were removed from its service

Spotify has confirmed its removal of hundreds of K-pop tracks as it attempts to reach an agreement with distributor Kakao M. 

As reported by NME, K-pop songs distributed by Kakeo M have been removed from Spotify globally as of Monday, March 1st.

In a statement obtained by NME, a spokesperson for Spotify revealed that Kakeo M’s catalogue would no longer be available through the service due to the “expiration of our license”.

“We have been working with KakaoM 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,” the statement read.

“Despite our best efforts, the existing licensing deal we had with KakaoM (which covered all countries other than South Korea) has come to an end. 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 continued.

“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 Kakao M, to help grow the Korean music market and overall streaming ecosystem together.”

While Spotify launched in South Korea last month, it was without the tracks from artists under Kakao M, including Zico and IU. As reported by NME, Kakeo M distributes a significant share of K-pop music, with 37.5 per cent of the songs featured on the 2020 Top 400 Yearly Song Chart belonging to the company.

Following Spotify’s launch in South Korea, a spokesperson for Kakao M told the Korea Herald that they are “still talking with Spotify [about distributing our songs through their platform].”

One of the artists affected by the removal is Tablo, a member of the South Korean hip-hop group Epik High.

Over on Twitter, Tablo suggested that it was a disagreement between Kakeo M and Spotify that led to his music’s exclusion.

“Apparently a disagreement between our distributor Kakao M & Spotify has made our new album Epik High Is Here unavailable globally against our will,” he wrote.

“Regardless of who is at fault, why is it always the artists and the fans that suffer when businesses place greed over art?”

Check out ‘Lovedrunk’ by Epik High:

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.