Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company, said it will revoke the licenses for its massive song catalog from TikTok after its current contract expires on Wednesday if the two companies fail to reach a new deal for addressing Universal’s concerns about artist compensation and artificial intelligence; and other issues.
In open letter published late Tuesday, Universal accused TikTok of responding to its demands with “indifference and then bullying,” setting off a public dispute over the remaining hours of the two companies’ existing contract. If the talks fail, TikTok users won’t be able to use music from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, U2, Bad Bunny and thousands of other artists in their videos.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is one of the most popular and fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, with more than a billion users and its influence on youth culture around the world is unparalleled. The company says it is used by more than 150 million Americans. For the majority of TikTok users, music is an integral part of the experience, with songs — often comically sped up — play from the short clips that populate users’ feeds.
In its public letter, Universal said that during the negotiations it asked TikTok to address its concerns on three issues: compensation for artists and songwriters, online safety for TikTok users and “protecting human artists from the harmful effects of “artificial intelligence” Universal accused TikTok of allowing the platform to be “flooded” with songs created by artificial intelligence, which Universal said reduces royalties for real, human artists and amounts to “sponsoring an artificial intelligence replacement artist”
In response, TikTok accused Universal of “putting its own greed above the interests of its artists and songwriters.”
“Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is that they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with over a billion users that serves as a free means of promotion and discovery for their talent.” TikTok said in a statement.
TikTok has existing deals with other major music companies including one announced last year with Warner Music Group — home to acts like Dua Lipa, Zach Bryan and Cardi B — which the companies said would “create new revenue, marketing and insight opportunities for WMG’s artists and songwriters, while deepening engagement with massive audience of passionate TikTok music fans.”
Highlighting TikTok’s value as a “free vehicle for promotion and discovery,” the company touched on a common nerve in the music industry: that technology platforms use music without fair compensation and justify it by claiming promotional value.
TikTok has clear advertising value, and for years it’s been a powerful engine for turning songs, sometimes obscure — like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” — into hits, sometimes making more money for artists on other platforms than them. . do on TikTok. And as any TikTok user knows, music is often used as background audio wallpaper for comedy skits, dances or video with time-lapse power-washing.
Universal’s feud with TikTok is a sign of the social media platform’s power and continued importance to the music industry. In the past, major music companies have battled Spotify, YouTube and Pandora, as each was seen as violating copyright laws or simply deviating from the music industry’s preferred parameters in licensing agreements.
Now it may be TikTok’s turn to face large-scale content removal. As of Wednesday morning, however, popular Universal songs were still being used in many users’ videos.