Hundreds of K-Pop songs that were pulled from Spotify‘s global catalog earlier this month due to an expired licensing deal with Kakao Entertainment (previously KakaoM) have now returned to the music streaming service.
Spotify has confirmed that it has reached a licensing agreement with the Korean distributor, record label and publisher and that the content is now available on the platform globally, including for the first time in South Korea.
K-Pop artists whose releases were affected by the removal earlier this month included SEVENTEEN, GFRIEND and MONSTA X amongst many others.
NME reported that 37.5% of songs featured on last year’s Top 400 Song Chart from Korea’s Gaon Music Chart were distributed by Kakao, whose parent company also owns popular Korean music streaming platform, MelOn.
Spotify’s own service arrived in South Korea last month without Kakao’s catalog.
“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.”
Spotify spokesperson
A Spotify spokesperson, said: “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.
“Spotify’s mission has always been to connect artists to their fans all over the world and to give listeners access to all of the world’s music.
“We are delighted that our Korean listeners will now also be able to enjoy this local music alongside our 70 million+ songs and 4 billion+ playlists.
“We remain committed to making a positive impact on Korea’s music streaming ecosystem through our partnerships with artists, labels, and local rights holders.”
“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.”
Kakao Entertainment spokesperson
A Kakao Entertainment spokesperson, added: “Kakao Entertainment Corp.(previously Kakao M) has entered into an agreement with Spotify and will sequentially provide its music content to Spotify for service in and beyond Korea.
“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.
“Kakao Entertainment remains committed to the Korean music ecosystem and its growth and will continue protecting the rights of artists, labels and local rights holders going forward.”Music Business Worldwide
