Some of your favorite music choices on TikTok — such as Taylor Swift, BTS, and Drake — may be removed from the platform soon, as the social media giant is in a licensing dispute with Universal Music Group (UMG), the label for all of these and other major artists.
The current licensing deal, which expired as of Wednesday, has not yet been renewed, and UMG wrote an open letter on Tuesday explaining the gravity of the situation. Addressed to “the artist and songwriter community,” the letter passionately lays out why UMG feels they “must call time out on TikTok.”
UMG insists that although they are able to work out licensing agreements with powerful companies all over the world, TikTok is offering far lower than the appropriate rate for a company of its worth and magnitude. UMG argues that this is not fair since TikTok executives have publicly stated that “music is at the heart of the TikTok experience.”
They've narrowed down their grievances in the tense negotiations to three key areas, “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
These are not unlike the issues that caused the Hollywood writers' and actors strikes last year.
UMG further argues that “TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue” due to the low rate it pays for music. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” the letter states.
It further adds that “TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.”
“We will never do that,” Universal stresses.
This could of course all be bluster to get TikTok to make the deal Universal Music Group is seeking, but it sounds like Swifties, BTS Army and Team Drizzy should be prepared for the possibility of their favorite artists' music leaving the platform if a new licensing agreement is not worked out imminently.
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