Universal Music Group officially pulls music from TikTok
Music pulled after TikTok proposed a payment rate for artists and songwriters significantly lower than that offered by other major social platforms.
As reported earlier this week, Universal Music Group (UMG), the renowned record label housing top-tier artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, and Billie Eilish, threatened to pull its music from TikTok if a new compensation agreement couldn’t be met. Well now, after the failure to negotiate a new licensing agreement following the expiration of their previous contract on January 31st, UMG has officially withdrawn its extensive song catalog from TikTok.
In an open letter posted on January 30th, Universal highlighted three key issues that led to the breakdown of negotiations: fair compensation for artists and songwriters, protection of human artists from the negative impacts of AI, and ensuring online safety for TikTok's users. The letter expressed frustration, stating that Universal's efforts were initially met with indifference and later with intimidation.
The letter revealed that TikTok proposed a payment rate for artists and songwriters significantly lower than other major social platforms. Despite TikTok's substantial user base exceeding one billion (with 150 million users in the US alone), it contributes only about 1% to Universal's revenue. Universal emphasized that TikTok's reliance on music is growing, making the compensation issue more crucial.
Citing a Goldman Sachs report from June 2023, Universal pointed out that Peloton paid $267 million to the music industry in the previous year, surpassing TikTok's $220 million, despite having a much smaller user base of 6.7 million.
Universal also raised concerns about TikTok's handling of AI-generated recordings on its platform. The label accused TikTok of allowing the platform to be flooded with such recordings and creating tools that facilitate AI music creation. Universal criticized TikTok's attempt to dilute the royalty pool for human artists, characterizing it as a move toward artist replacement by AI.
Furthermore, Universal criticized TikTok for not presenting effective solutions to combat copyright infringement and address issues like hate speech, bigotry, and bullying on the platform. The label accused TikTok of not offering meaningful strategies to protect its artists' music from unauthorized use.
In response, TikTok issued a statement on Tuesday night, expressing disappointment that Universal Music Group prioritized its own financial interests over the well-being of its artists and songwriters. The statement labeled Universal's actions as driven by greed and emphasized TikTok's role as a powerful promotional and discovery platform for talent with over a billion users.
TikTok contended that it has successfully negotiated "artist-first" agreements with every other label and publisher, suggesting that Universal's decision is not aligned with the best interests of artists, songwriters, and fans. The standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok underscores the challenges in balancing compensation, technological concerns, and content protection in the ever-evolving landscape of digital music platforms.