Spotify Loses Huge Catalog of K-pop Songs From Monsta X, Mamamoo, and More
K-pop is in its heyday thanks to the efforts of its truly international fanbase, so more people [...]
K-pop is in its heyday thanks to the efforts of its truly international fanbase, so more people are listening to the genre than ever before. Of course, that means news travels fast whenever something upsets the fandom's balance, and it seems Spotify has caused such a ruckus. After all, it seems the streaming service is losing a ton of K-pop songs, and the tracks belong to a slew of hitmakers in the industry.
According to reports, Spotify's K-pop catalog is being impacted in the United States, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. A whole bundle of songs has been taken from the site following a licensing disagreement. With Kakao M. Any song on the service licensed through the brand is in danger, and fans have made a running list of artists impacted by the move.
Currently, major bands like Seventeen, Monsta X, Loona, IU, Mamamoo, SF9, and more have had songs removed if not their entire catalogs. You can find a more complete list of affected artists and groups below:
Seventeen, Monsta X, Loon, IU, Apink, Mamamoo, Pentagon, GFriend, CLC, Astro, The Boyz, Golden Child, Weki Meki, Victor, Cravity, Epik High, Moonbyul, Hyolyn, and more.
As for why these artists have gone missing, it seems to boil down to an issue with Kakao M and Spotify's recent launch in South Korea. The service is now available overseas but without Kakao M licenses. This is because Korea's biggest streaming service Melon is operated by Kakao M, so Spotify is a direct competitor. According to a spokesperson from Kakao M, the company is working on a deal with Spotify to share its catalog, but no agreement has been made so far.
Of course, you can see why fans are unhappy about this issue. If the rivalry is the root cause here, the catalog dispute is now impacting fans around the globe. Many are now asking Spotify and Kakao M to sort out the dispute as soon as possible with Epik High's Tablo weighing in as well.
"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," the artist's latest post reads. And honestly, well said Tablo.
What do you make of this streaming dispute? Have any of your playlists been impacted by this or...? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
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