The largest music company in the world, Universal Music Group, has stated that it will stop licensing content to TikTok on Wednesday if a new deal is not reached before the current one expires.
Users of the social media app TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, can create short videos, most of which have licensed music and sound effects.
The agreement between Universal Music Group and TikTok is about to expire in the next 24 hours due to disagreements between the two companies regarding artist compensation and a number of other AI-related issues. As a result, some of the most well-known songs in the world, such as those by Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and the recently viral song “Murder on the Dancefloor,” will no longer be available in TikTok’s library.
Universal claims TikTok’s prices are too high
Universal expressed its concerns about TikTok’s proposed payment rates—which it claims are much lower than those provided by major social platforms—in an open letter to the community of artists and songwriters.
The existing contract, which features well-known musicians like Drake and Taylor Swift, is about to expire. Universal has voiced displeasure with TikTok’s proposed agreement, claiming it is not as good as the previous one.
Numerous well-known musicians are represented by Universal, including up-and-coming performers as well as well-known performers like Swift, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, the Weeknd, and Eminem.
The music behemoth claimed that TikTok was trying to intimidate them by deleting some up-and-coming musicians’ music from the platform while keeping songs by more well-known users.
in response, a representative for TikTok refuted Universal’s story, stating that the music label has chosen to leave the platform, which has over a billion users and is a useful tool for artists to promote themselves.
Although TikTok has grown to be a powerful force in the music industry, helping people find and share music, the platform has only contributed a small amount of money directly to Universal’s earnings—roughly 1% of the latter’s total revenue, according to the record label.
According to Universal, TikTok is trying to establish a music-based business without paying enough for the music that it uses.
TikTok claims Universal make a “False Narrative”
“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,” a TikTok spokeswoman said.
According to TikTok, fans, songwriters, and artists are not best served by Universal’s actions.
In the event that a new contract is not reached, TikTok will have to take down billions of videos from Universal’s library that feature music—both published music and recorded music.
In its letter, Universal emphasized three main points: providing artists and songwriters with just compensation; shielding artists from the detrimental effects of artificial intelligence; and guaranteeing TikTok users’ online safety.
Securing profitable licensing agreements with websites like TikTok is seen by the music industry as essential to long-term growth.
particularly as the growth in streaming revenue starts to level off and the significance of licensing opportunities across multiple digital platforms grows.