Kakao M And Spotify Renew Licensing Agreement

Kakao M and Spotify have announced a renewal of their licensing agreement.

On March 1, hundreds of K-pop releases disappeared from Spotify after the global licensing agreement between Spotify and Kakao M expired. Both companies released separate statements about the expiration of this agreement.

On March 11, Spotify and Kakao Entertainment (previously known as Kakao M) announced in an official statement, “Both companies have completed discussions about the renewal of their global licensing contract. As a result, Kakao Entertainment’s content will be available on Spotify platforms around the world, including in South Korea.”

A source from Spotify stated, “The music of Kakao Entertainment artists will be available on Spotify once again for their global fans and for the over 345 million Spotify listeners in 170 countries around the world. As it is Spotify’s mission to connect artists to fans all over the world and to showcase music from around the world to our users, we are happy to be able to reach Korean listeners with not only these tracks but also with our library of over 70 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists.”

Spotify continued, “We remain committed to actively working toward negotiations with artists, labels, and rights holders in order to have a positive impact on the Korean streaming system.”

A source from Kakao Entertainment said, “Kakao Entertainment and Spotify have completed discussions for our music licensing contract, and we have agreed to resume releasing our music on the global service, including in South Korea. Through diverse partnerships around the world, including Spotify, we aim to help our artists connect to listeners all over the world and create opportunities for people to enjoy K-pop.”

Kakao Entertainment concluded, “We remain committed to protecting the rights of artists, labels, and rights holders and to the growth of a stable creative ecosystem for the Korean music industry.”

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