Spotify and K-Pop label Kakao settle licensing dispute, music returning to platform

Despite the importance of K-pop worldwide, Spotify was a latecomer to the Korean music streaming market. — Dreamstime/TNS

LOS ANGELES: Spotify has announced that it has reached an agreement with Kakao Entertainment (previously KakaoM), making their content available on the platform across the globe, including for the first time in South Korea.

The two companies had been in a bitter dispute that saw Kakao Entertainment – whose parent company Kakao Corp owns the market-leading Melon streaming service in Korea – removing the rights to hundreds of songs by its artistes from Spotify after the licensing deal between the two companies expired and they failed to agree on new terms.