TikTok’s Global Head of Music Operations Paul Hourican Exits

Paul Hourican announced on Thursday (Feb. 22) that he was leaving TikTok, where he served as global head of music operations. 

“After four and a half amazing years and with a lifetime’s worth of memories and achievements in the bag, I have made the decision to move on from TikTok,” Hourican wrote on LinkedIn. He didn’t say what his next job would be, writing only, “See you very soon.”

A representative for TikTok declined to comment.

After working at YouTube for close to five years, Hourican joined TikTok in the fall of 2019. At the time, many artists and labels were still hesitant about embracing the app. That started to change quickly — spurred on in part by the pandemic, which pushed more users onto TikTok and incentivized more artists to focus on digital marketing efforts. 

“With any new product that comes into an ecosystem like music, it takes time for everyone to acclimatize to it,” Hourican said in 2021. “It takes time for artists… their teams, and the industry to understand the platform and its potential.” 

During his time at TikTok, Hourican helped launch SoundOn, its distribution wing. He listed “helping to take SoundOn from a sketch on a whiteboard to full product launch (and naming it on the way)” as one of his “personal highlights” from his time at the company. He also wrote that he played a role in “some incredible activations, partnerships, [and] award winning projects,” including “the record-breaking TikTok In The Mix [concert] in Arizona at the end of last year.”

TikTok’s ability to impact music discovery and listening behavior made it a must-use tool for most artists and labels. However, rightsholders’ frustration with the platform’s low payouts has been growing steadily since at least 2022. Recently, licensing negotiations between TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) fell apart, meaning that UMG’s music has been unavailable on the platform since the start of February.