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K-pop fans react with shock as vast swathes of tracks distributed by Kakao M disappear from Spotify

  • Stephen Ackroyd
  • February 28, 2021

K-pop fans have reacted with shock at the disappearance of a huge catalogue of material from Spotify earlier today (Sunday 28th February).

Reports from the US, UK, Canada and Germany suggest that releases licensed by Kakao M are no longer available to be played via the streaming service. Tracks from Seventeen, MONSTA X, Loona, IU (pictured), Apink, MAMAMOO (pictured), GFriend, The Boyz, SF9, Pentagon, CLC, Astro, Weki Meki, Golden Child, Cravity and VICTON, amongst others, are currently missing.

Eddie Nam, founder of EN Management, hone to acts including Epik High, Eric Nam and KATIE, tweeted in response that he has “never heard of an artist’s music being taken down against the artist’s will.”

I have never heard of an artist’s music being taken down against the artist’s will, especially for something they didn’t do. https://t.co/VUYpmrtP4I

— Eddie Nam (@eddienam) February 28, 2021

He went on to state “it really hurts to see”.

Knowing the years of hard work the guys put into those projects, it really really hurts to see this.

— Eddie Nam (@eddienam) February 28, 2021

Artists too are frustrated. Some, like CODE KUNST, appeared to find out about the takedown via stan accounts.

kakao M didn’t even notify the artists that their music was getting removed off spotify so they’re basically finding out from stan accts .. & most probably still don’t even know pic.twitter.com/5na2Cmlhe3

— ‎ً (@jiminsdoII) February 28, 2021

it's frustrating that the artists didn't know, spotify and kakao m just made the decision without at least notifying them before, they just found out like us. pic.twitter.com/rQ0facLIXz

— kyg1🔗 (@jbbamyg) February 28, 2021

Fans, meanwhile, were shocked to find their playlist emptied.

i literally just woke up and 80% of my playlists on spotify have been wiped out because of kakao m pic.twitter.com/OrEcpoZyb8

— a • ♡ (@roseysveokjin) February 28, 2021

Kakao M and Spotify, that is NOT the way to go. Many artists, including khh and krnb artists, and their fans have been seriously affected because of your petty disagreements. Stop thinking about yourselves and give us our songs back.

— khh/krnb struggle tweets (@khhstruggle) February 28, 2021

Spotify recently launched in Korea without the Kakao M catalogue, with a deal yet to be signed. “We are still talking with Spotify (about distributing our songs through their platform),” Kakao M’s spokesperson shared with The Korea Herald. Kakao M already own a popular streaming platform, Melon, for which Spotify’s new launch will be a competitor.

Some fans are speculating the mass disappearance is due to this rivalry, though the cause is yet to be confirmed, with no public statement from either party to date.

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