Spotify removes Bollywood songs from music app

The music app Spotify was forced to remove the entire catalog of Bollywood songs from Zee Music Company after negotiations for a renewal of their licensing agreement failed to go through last week. Users and fans of Bollywood music have been taking to social media to voice their displeasure over the move. Some have even threatened to cancel their subscription with the app. Spotify has stated that it has not been able to reach an agreement with the owners of the tracks after the old agreement expired.Throughout these negotiations, Spotify has tried to find creative ways to strike a deal with Zee Music, and will continue our good faith negotiations in hopes of finding a mutually agreeable solution soon," as per a Business Today report.

However, this is not the first time Zee Music is also absent from a music platform. Last year the music company cut its ties with Gaana, a few months before the audio-streaming platform became a subscription-only service. became a subscription-only service.Meanwhile, Zee Music had over two dozen tracks on Spotify’s Daily Top 200 Songs chart for India. Popular hits include ‘Maiyya Mainu’ from Jersey (2022), a successful music album from the movie Kalank (2019) and Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019), ‘Makhna’ from Drive (2019), 'Kala Chashma' from Baar Baar Dekho (2016), and 'Zaalima' from Raees (2017) amongst others.