Spotify Listens to IU and Lim Young-woong's Music... Renews Contract with Kakao

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The world's largest music streaming platform, Spotify, now offers music from popular Korean artists such as IU and Lim Young-woong.

Kakao Entertainment (hereinafter Kakao Enter) and Spotify issued a joint statement on the 11th, saying, "The two companies have completed negotiations for a global licensing renewal," adding, "As a result, Kakao Entertainment's content will be available on Spotify worldwide, including Korea."

A Kakao Enter official explained, "We have completed contract negotiations with Spotify for music distribution and decided to resume supplying music for global services, including Korea," adding, "We expect this collaboration with Spotify, along with various domestic and international partners, to provide more music fans around the world the opportunity to discover our artists and enjoy K-pop."

A Spotify representative also said, "We are pleased to once again offer Kakao Enter's artists' music to fans worldwide and over 345 million Spotify listeners in 170 countries," adding, "We are also happy to provide Korean listeners with these tracks along with over 70 million songs and more than 4 billion playlists."

Previously, until Spotify launched its service in Korea on the 1st of last month, it had not reached an agreement with Kakao Enter on the terms for providing domestic music. As a result, Spotify had no choice but to start its service in Korea excluding music distributed by Kakao Enter. On the 1st, the overseas licensing contract also expired, preventing overseas Spotify users from listening to music by major Korean artists owned by Kakao Enter, such as IU and Lim Young-woong.

Some interpreted that Kakao Enter, the operator of Melon, Korea's top music platform and the country's largest music distributor, was being passive in the renewal negotiations to curb Spotify's influence, and K-pop fans flooded social media with criticism directed at both companies.

Kakao Enter stated, "Going forward, Kakao Entertainment will do its best to protect creators' rights and contribute to the growth of the Korean music industry and the establishment of a stable creative ecosystem."

Spotify also said, "We will continue to strive to have a positive impact on Korea's music streaming ecosystem through collaboration with artists, labels, and rights organizations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.