TikTok users are accustomed to watching and creating videos set to music from their favorite artists — but that changed as of Jan. 31.
After contract negotiations fell through between the social media platform and Universal Music Group, which produces and distributes music by many top artists, UMG said it will stop licensing content to TikTok services. TikTok confirmed early Feb. 1 to the New York Times that it removed UMG’s music: Existing clips containing UMG music were muted and UMG songs are no longer available to use in new clips.
What does that mean for the TikTok user experience? We're breaking down everything you need to know.
Why Universal Media Group is removing songs by its artists on TikTok
UMG, a company that represents a plethora of mainstream musical artists including Taylor Swift, said in an open letter to the music community published Jan. 30 that its existing agreement with TikTok is expiring Jan. 31 and that contract negotiations had fallen through. It said new negotiations have "three critical issues":
- "Appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters"
- "Protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI"
- "Online safety for TikTok's users"
On the subject of compensation, UMG said "TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay."
"Despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue," UMG said.
On the topic of AI, UMG said AI-generated recordings "massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists." On the safety front, UMG said TikTok has "no meaningful solutions to the rising tide of content adjacency issues, let alone the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform." UMG also pointed to other "problematic content," such as "pornographic deepfakes of artists," that it said TikTok handles in a "monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process."
UMG claimed that 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."
"How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars,” the open letter said.
A spokesperson for UMG told NBC News that TikTok is now obligated to delete or mute all UMG music and music associated with Universal Music Publishing Group by end of day on Jan. 31 since no agreement was reached.
How TikTok responded to UMG
In response to UMG's decision to pull its content from TikTok, the social media platform offered the following response:
"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 did not respond to UMG's allegations about AI use and user safety.
Who are UMG's artists?
UMG represents a wide range of hit musicians. A UMG spokesperson told NBC News that, based on a 2023 TikTok report, eight of the top 10 most popular artists globally on TikTok in 2023 are UMG artists.
According to its website, UMG artists include:
- Adele
- Justin Bieber
- Bad Bunny
- Drake
- Billie Eilish
- Ariana Grande
- Elton John
- Alicia Keys
- Kendrick Lamar
- Post Malone
- SZA
- Taylor Swift
- The Weeknd
- Rosalía