It looks like a huge catalogue of K-pop has disappeared from Spotfiy.
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.
That means tracks from Seventeen, MONSTA X, Loona, IU, Apink, MAMAMOO (pictured), GFriend, The Boyz, SF9, Pentagon, CLC, Astro, Weki Meki, Golden Child, Cravity and VICTON, amongst others, are currently missing.
You can find a list of just some of the artists currently with tracks unavailable in the tweet thread below.
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. However, a tweet from Tablo of Epik High claims it’s due to a disagreement, which has “made our new album… unavailable globally against our will”.
While we’re waiting to find out more, you can read our recent chats with MONSTA X and Cravity.
