Two weeks ago, Kpop fans worldwide were up in arms after Spotify suddenly removed hundreds of Kpop songs from its system amid a dispute with South Korean music distributor Kakao M.
Songs from popular acts such as Sistar, IU, Monsta X, Mamamoo, Seventeen, and Epik High were purged from the music streaming app, causing alarm not only from fans but also the artists themselves who seemed to have not been informed of the purge beforehand.
“Apparently a disagreement between our distributor Kakao M & Spotify has made our new album Epik High Is Here unavailable globally against our will. Regardless of who is at fault, why is it always the artists and the fans that suffer when businesses place greed over art?” wrote Tablo, the leader and producer of Epik High, on Twitter.
According to Spotify, the dispute was a result of them not being able to reach an agreement with Kakao M on a new global deal. Kakao M, however, said in their own statement that it was Spotify that decided to not renew their agreement despite Kakao M’s request.
Thankfully, it seems that the two companies have finally settled their differences and renewed their licensing agreement. Representatives of both have informed ABS-CBN News in an official statement that the removed music content from the Korean distributor will be coming back.
“We are pleased that Kakao Entertainment’s content and artists are back on Spotify, allowing our 345M+ global listeners across 170 countries to once again enjoy the music they love,” said the Spotify spokesperson.
“Through its diverse partnerships around the world including Spotify, Kakao Entertainment hopes that music lovers around the world can easily access its artists’ and music content to enjoy K-pop,” added the spokesperson from Kakao M.
(ALSO READ: Kpop Star IU is Releasing a New Album Much Sooner Than You Think—Here’s What We Know!)
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