Kakao M: Hundreds of K-pop hits disappear from Spotify amid licensing dispute

Spotify has said it hopes the ‘disruption will be temporary’

K-pop group Monsta X perform onstage at the 2019 iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas (Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Hundreds of popular K-pop songs have disappeared from Spotify amid an ongoing licensing dispute with South Korean distributor Kakao M.

The streaming giant announced that its existing licensing deal with Kakao M had “come to an end” but the disruption is hoped to be temporary.

Acts including Sistar, IU, Epik High and Monsta X are among those to have had music removed from Spotify’s catalogues. Spotify confirmed the removal in a statement (per BBC News).

Kakao M is the biggest music distributor in South Korea, and operates the country’s most popular music streaming service, MelOn, which has a monthly active user base of nearly 9 million people.

The company has claimed that Spotify refused to extend its license.

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The removal of the songs has been criticised by fans and some figures in the Korean music industry, including Epik High’s frontman and producer Tablo.

“Why is it always the artists and the fans that suffer when businesses place greed over art?” wrote the artist on Twitter, claiming that the band did not want their most recent album Epik High Is Here (Part 1) removed.

In its official statement, Spotify said: “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 is our hope that this disruption will be temporary and we can resolve the situation soon.”