Cyworld stops music download service for all SM Entertainment songs on its site

Considered as the Korean equivalent of Facebook, Cyworld is almost universally used by Korean netizens. However, the social networking site has become entangled in a controversy with SM Entertainment by suddenly terminating the entertainment giant’s music service on their site.

SM Entertainment sought to put up an “unlimited background music” service, but before it was to be launched, SK Communications – the parent company behind Cyworld – required a full report from SM Entertainment to be submitted by July 20th. However, the entertainment company stated that it would be impossible to complete one before the deadline. “Because we needed to decide a direction, price of the content, and connections with global platforms, we communicated to SK that finishing our review before the opening date was impossible,” said SME in a statement.

“Despite our wishes, SK replied that if we did not open the “unlimited background
music” service on time, they would have no choice but to halt all sales of our individual background music,” and added that SK Communications cut off the service without consulting them on the matter. In essence, all Cyworld users will not be able to download SM Entertainment’s songs for use as background music on their personal Cyworld sites until this matter clears up.

On a notice posted to the official SM Entertainment homepage, SM apologized for the trouble. “We sincerely apologize for the unwanted trouble and inconvenience to our fans,” it read.

Source: Star News via Nate