Epik High’s Management Calls For A “Solution ASAP” After Kakao M Removes Songs From Spotify
To the news of all K-Pop songs distributed by Kakao M being removed from Spotify, Epik High‘s Tablo took to Twitter and condemned businesses placing “greed over art.”
Eddie Nam — the founder of EN Management currently home to Epik High along with other artists like Eric Nam and KATIE — also tweeted in discontent, claiming that “music being taken down…for something [the artist] didn’t do” is unprecedented:
I have never heard of an artist’s music being taken down against the artist’s will, especially for something they didn’t do. https://t.co/VUYpmrtP4I
— Eddie Nam (@eddienam) February 28, 2021
In a series of tweets that followed, Eddie Nam claimed that “it really really hurts to see” Epik High’s albums be inaccessible from the platform and demanded a “solution ASAP.”
Knowing the years of hard work the guys put into those projects, it really really hurts to see this.
— Eddie Nam (@eddienam) February 28, 2021
Likewise, global fans of K-Pop artists affected by the said “disagreement between Kakao M and Spotify” are flooding Twitter with disappointment to find the albums and songs entirely gone from their playlists. “Kakao M” continues to trend on Twitter, as more Spotify users who are also K-Pop fans come to express their deepest concerns on the issue.
Kakao M and Spotify, that is NOT the way to go. Many artists, including khh and krnb artists, and their fans have been seriously affected because of your petty disagreements. Stop thinking about yourselves and give us our songs back.
— khh/krnb struggle tweets (@khhstruggle) February 28, 2021
i literally just woke up and 80% of my playlists on spotify have been wiped out because of kakao m pic.twitter.com/OrEcpoZyb8
— a • ♡ (@roseysveokjin) February 28, 2021
The overall frustration grows as some affected artists, like CODE KUNST, seemingly did not know about Kakao M’s decision as a distributor. One fan pointed out, “[Some artists] are basically finding out from stan accounts” that their works have become unavailable on Spotify.
kakao M didn’t even notify the artists that their music was getting removed off spotify so they’re basically finding out from stan accts .. & most probably still don’t even know pic.twitter.com/5na2Cmlhe3
— ً (@jiminsdoII) February 28, 2021
it's frustrating that the artists didn't know, spotify and kakao m just made the decision without at least notifying them before, they just found out like us. pic.twitter.com/rQ0facLIXz
— kyg1🔗 (@jbbamyg) February 28, 2021
Neither Kakao M nor Spotify is yet to release any statements on the issue, though considering the amount of backlash and uproar that the decision has caused online among their immediate users — an explanation could be in the making. Stay tuned for more updates.
