Spotify was forced to remove hundreds of Bollywood songs under the Indian record label Zee Music Company after negotiations for a renewal of their licensing agreement after the old one expired. 

In a statement sent to Billboard, the music app 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.”

However, Anurag Bedi, the chief business officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, declined to comment on the issue. 

The removed tracks from the Zee Music Company, one of India’s largest domestic record labels, included popular songs like 'Malhari' from Bajirao Mastani, Kala Chashma from Baar Baar Dekho, the title track of Kalank, and albums from ABCD2, Baar Baar Dekho, Badhai Do, Bang Bang, Secret Super Star, Dangal, Kalank, Misson Mangal, PadMan, 3idiots, Kedarnath, Jersey, and Raazi.

Much like the streaming platform Netflix, the music app doesn’t provide access to all the music and negotiates licensing deals with publishers and rights owners, so their music tracks can be played online. 

Previously, the music company also did not renew the licensing agreement with the music app Gaana and cut ties with them in 2022. 

Expressing their displeasure with the removal, netizens took to Twitter. The Zee Music Company has more than 93 million subscribers on Youtube, coming second to T-Series with 239 million subscribers.