Juli-Anne Sarji '24
There has been a battle between the Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok. It all began when UMG failed to renew its licensing deal with TikTok, which expired on January 31, 2024. As a result, all music by artists like Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Drake, and Lana Del Rey was removed from TikTok, and all videos containing their music were muted.
UMG decided not to renew its contract with TikTok because TikTok was only paying a fraction of the rate that other platforms pay for the music by artists signed to UMG. In UMG’s “An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community: Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok,” they talk about what issues led them to not renewing their contract.
UMG wrote, “In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing them on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users," and how TikTok tried to intimidate them into a lesser deal.
UMG’s main concern is for their artists, and they want to protect and ensure that they are valued and compensated properly for their work. On TikTok, many users are able to take parts of an artist's original song and use AI to change them. As a result, this is lowering the compensation given to artists, which UMG found necessary to oppose.
TikTok was told by UMG that all music owned by UMPG (Universal Music Publishing Group) had to be removed by the end of February. The majority of their music was already taken down in less than 48 hours of this statement being issued. All videos containing the music were muted, and users were given the option to replace the sound on their videos. Many big and small music artists and dancers who rely on TikTok as a source of income were upset about their music being removed.
Although it is upsetting that a lot of music was removed from TikTok, it is much more important that all artists and songwriters are paid and treated the way they deserve.
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