K-Pop Songs Return to Spotify After a New Licensing Deal with Kakao Entertainment is Reached
The two companies had been in a licensing dispute over the past few weeks, which prompted hundreds of songs to disappear.
Hundreds of previously removed K-Pop songs are returning to Spotify after the company recently announced that it has reached a new licensing agreement with Kakao Entertainment, previously known as KakaoM, as reported by Variety.
The two companies had been in a licensing dispute over the past few weeks, which prompted hundreds of K-Pop songs from artists such as Sistar, IU, Monsta X, Epik High, Zico, and Apink to disappear from the streaming platform on March 1st. At the time, the licensing deal between Spotify and Kakao Entertainment had expired and the two companies had failed to agree on new terms.

The outrage that K-Pop fans expressed on social media, as well as from K-Pop artists themselves, prompted Kakao to re-start negotiations with Spotify and agreed to terms not dramatically different from those offered in the original negotiations.
With the agreement, the content is now available on Spotify across the globe, and is available for the first time in South Korea.
Spotify released the following statement about the situation, “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.”
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