KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Universal Music Group, which has big-name stars such as Harry Styles and Taylor Swift on its label, will no longer license its music to TikTok.
- UMG accused TikTok of paying its artists a fraction of the rate other social media platforms pay, misuse of AI-generated content and selective content removal.
- TikTok denied UMG’s claims as a “false narrative”.
Universal Music Group will no longer license its music to TikTok, the recording music giant said in an open letter on Tuesday, a move that means the social media platform will no longer have access to songs by blockbuster artists such as Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, among others.
The contract between the two companies will expire today, after which all of UMG’s songs will be removed from TikTok.
UMG said TikTok pays its artists a fraction of the rate other social media platforms pay. The ByteDance-owned app accounts for only 1% of UMG’s total revenue—”an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters,” UMG said.
The music label also alleged that TikTok has allowed its platform to be flooded with AI-generated music—”nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI”—and has done little to deal with or remove problematic content or deepfakes. UMG also said TikTok tried to “bully” it by removing contents of some developing artists.
“As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth,” UMG said, adding it recognized that its artists will suffer “near-term consequences” of its decision to withdraw their music.
In response, TikTok said UMG was presenting a “false narrative.” The social media app said it has “artist-first agreements with every other label and publisher”.
TikTok signed a music licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG) last year.