Missing K-pop songs from Spotify? You're not imagining it

If you woke up to lost K-pop songs in your playlist, you're not alone.

Spotify is trending on Twitter with over 2 million confused tweets wondering why their K-pop playlists are practically gone.

Soompi on Monday ran Spotify's official statement explaining why hundreds of K-pop songs were removed, with entire discographies disappeared without warning. 

Spotify said its licensing agreement with Korean music distributor Kakao M expires on March 1, which means all of the music distributed by the label will no longer be available on the service.

The report cited a spokesperson for Spotify who explained, "Due to the expiration of our original licensing agreement with Kakao M on March 1, 2021, we are no longer able to provide its catalogue to fans and listeners all over the world.”

"We have been making efforts in all directions over the past year and a half to renew the global licensing agreement so that we could continue to make Kakao M artists’ music available to fans all over the world, as well as our 345 million users in 170 different regions," the Spotify rep said.

Unfortunately, the streaming platform and Kakao M "were unable to reach an agreement about renewing our global license." 

In the Soompi report, Spotify clarified that the expiration of their licensing agreement with Kakao M is "unrelated" to the recent launch of their service in South Korea, which has put Spotify in direct competition with Kakao M's streaming service Melon.

“We feel that this situation is deeply unfortunate for many artists, as well as fans and listeners all over the world, and we sincerely hope that we will be able to quickly resolve the current situation,” they continued.

“We will continue to do our utmost so that we can keep working with Korean rights holders, including Kakao M, and help both the Korean music market and overall streaming ecosystem grow together.”

According to Soompi, Kakao M distributes a big share of Korean music including 37.5 percent of Gaon Chart’s year-end Top 400 Songs chart from 2020 were Kakao M releases.

The Soompo report listed down some of the K-pop artists whose discographies have been at least partially affected which includes IU, SEVENTEEN, NU’EST, MAMAMOO, Epik High, CL, GFRIEND, MONSTA X, Apink, THE BOYZ, Sunmi, (G)I-DLE, LOONA, SF9, HyunA, 4Minute, VIXX, INFINITE, Dreamcatcher, MOMOLAND, ASTRO, Zico, Block B, BEAST, Jessi, WJSN, AOA, BTOB, Golden Child, VICTON, Lovelyz, PENTAGON, ONEUS, Hyolyn, KARD, Brave Girls, CNBLUE, DIA, Younha, SECHSKIES, and many more.

GMA News Online has reached out to Spotify Philippines how the Philippine market will move forward given the situation. Watch this space. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News