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Spotify and Kakao M join hands again; renew their global licensing agreement
Ten days after Twitter broke into a frenzy for the unavailability of hundreds of Kpop songs, the two companies have released a statement stating their contract renewal.
We finally have some good news in the house! Spotify and Kakao M have announced that they’ve reached an agreement and renewed their global license, which means the thousands of songs that disappeared from Spotify, will now be back on it. This negotiation was reached after a bitter dispute between the two streaming service companies.
Now fans can listen to their favourite Kpop artists on Spotify again. Artists like SEVENTEEN, IU, Epik High, Sunmi, Monsta X, Mamamoo and many others’ songs will be released on the worldwide Spotify channels after this contract renewal.
In today’s press release, a spokesperson from Kakao M said, "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."
As for Spotify’s statement regarding this matter, a source stated, "We are pleased that Kakao Entertainment Corp.’s content and artists are back on Spotify, allowing our 345 million+ 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."
South Korea’s leading streaming platforms like Melon and Genie, is owned by Kakao M and Spotify is a direct competitor of the same. The dispute arose when both Spotify and Kakao M gave different statements for the same issue. There was even an uproar of fans on Twitter as they took over the micro-blogging site to express their discontent.
Also Read: Kakao M v Spotify Korea: K pop fans upset with Kakao M distributed songs disappearing from Spotify
What do you think about this license renewal and how excited are you to get the chance to listen to your favourite artists again? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
