If you’ve been on TikTok anytime in the past couple of days, the odds are high you’ve seen some of your favorite creators fretting about an upcoming change that could result in devastating potentially millions of videos on the platform. If TikTok can’t reach a deal to renew its music licensing agreement with Universal Music Group, the label says it plans to pull its entire catalog from the app, resulting in any video utilizing UMG artists’ songs to be muted, beginning when the agreement expires today. Otherwise, TikTok could open itself to legal liability for copyright infringement. So…
Why Is UMG Removing Its Artists From TikTok?
In an open letter published on the company’s website on Tuesday (January 30), UMG expresses a number of concerns about an ongoing partnership with the app. Chief among them is ensuring fair monetary value for its artists’ work as TikTok seeks to launch its own music-based business (naturally). Meanwhile, UMG also says it has concerns about hate and harassment on the app and TikTok not taking a firm stance when it comes to “AI”-generated works, a controversial topic these days.
UMG alleges that “TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay” and that it “demanded a contractual right which would allow [AI] content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists.” This is while TikTok itself is developing AI tools that’d make it easier to do so.
Labels under UMG include Interscope and its subsidiaries, the Capitol Music Group umbrella, Republic Records, Island Records, Def Jam, and more. UMG artists include some of the biggest in the world: Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Drake, Elton John, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, SZA, Taylor Swift, and more.
However, pulling these acts from TikTok could be risky for the label as well; the app has increasingly become one of the biggest drivers for new singles and artists to gain popularity. For example, JID, who is signed to Dreamville under Interscope, has experienced a massive surge of interest in his song “Surround Sound” due to a TikTok trend in which creators tape their phones to their ceilings and dance under them (it’s sillly, but hey, it works). Meanwhile, older songs often find second lives on the app, such as The Weeknd’s “Die For You” and Miguel’s “Sure Thing.”
TikTok itself pointed this out in its response, telling Billboard, “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters. Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent. TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.”
TikTok recently agreed to a licensing deal with Warner Music Group (of which Uproxx is an independent subsidiary) last July, allowing TikTok to use its catalog on the TikTok Music platform, saying that the deal would benefit artists. It remains to be seen how UMG pulling out will affect its business and artists, but TikTok wouldn’t be getting away unscathed, as a huge part of the appeal for its users is supporting their videos with popular music.