Spotify removes Zee Music songs owing to licensing dispute

A still from ‘Gully Boy’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Music app Spotify has removed its entire catalogue of Hindi film songs from Zee Music Company after negotiations for a renewal of their licensing agreement fell through. 

Among the many songs that have been removed includes ‘Apna Bana Le’ from Bhediya which has been the number-one track on Spotify in India over the past two weeks. This comes after last year’s move by Zee Music to not renew the licensing agreement with the music app Gaana and following which, a few months later, the app became a subscription-only service.

Users of Spotify and fans of Bollywood songs have shared their displeasure over this on social media with some of them threatening to cancel their paid subscription. 

According to a report on Billboard, a statement from the music app’s team read, “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.”

Over two dozen tracks on Spotify’s Daily Top 200 Songs chart for India were from Zee Music and these tracks will not be available for consumption till the two companies come up with a new agreement. 

Some of the tracks that aren’t currently available on Spotify include ‘Zaalima’ from Raees (2017), ‘Makhna’ from Drive (2019) and ‘Maiyya Mainu’ from Jersey (2022). The albums of Veere Di Wedding (2018), Gully Boy (2019),  Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019) and Kalank (2019) will also remain unavailable.