Fans were taken aback to find their favourite Bollywood songs missing from their go-to playlists when they logged in to Spotify recently. Many people went on social media to report the issue as songs like Apna Bana Liya from Bhediya, Kala Chasma from Baar Baar Dekho, Nagada Sang Dhol from Goliyon Ki Raasleela-Ram Leela and several others missing from the streaming platform. Apna Bana Liya was the No.1 track on Spotify India for the last two weeks.
The songs have gone missing due to a licensing dispute between Zee Music Company and Spotify, wherein the latter removed the record label’s songs after negotiations for a renewal of their licensing agreement did not materialize. Zee Music also did not renew the licensing agreement with the music app Gaana and severed ties with them in 2022. A few months later, Gaana became a subscription-only service.
I know you’re sad my songs Theher Ja, Sau Aasmaan & a few more aren’t on Spotify anymore. Im sad too
Unfortunately we ain’t the rights owners of our Bollywood songs, so no matter what we can only hope that the issue is resolved at the earliest btwn the label & the platform.
— ARMAAN MALIK (@ArmaanMalik22) March 22, 2023
A Spotify spokesperson told in a statement that the two sides have been unable to strike a pact and said, “Spotify and Zee Music have been unable to reach a licensing agreement. 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.”
All songs under the Zee label were removed from Spotify on March 14m but users only started noticing the issue a few days later when several fan favourites like like Kala Chashma from Baar Baar Dekho, Apna Time Ayega from Gully Boy, Maiyya Mainu from Jersey, Kalank's title track and others went missing.
The music app has a disclaimer on its website that it doesn’t provide access to all the music and podcasts in the world but negotiates licensing deals with publishers and rights owners so that their music tracks can be played online. Zee Music has 93.6 million subscribers on YouTube, making it second only to T-Series, which has 239 million subscribers on YouTube.
(Source: Billboard/Twitter)
