Universal Music to pull music from TikTok, claiming it is using “its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists”

Last night (January 30), Universal Music Group (UMG) published an open letter announcing its intention to withdraw music from artists signed to the publisher and label from short-form video platform TikTok, which has since responded in a statement of its own.

A short list of UMG artists whose music is expected to vanish from the platform is Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Adele, Coldplay, J Balvin, Post Malone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor – whose 2001 track ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ has gone particularly viral through TikTok following the release of Saltburn.

In its statement, UMG announced that its licensing agreement with TikTok expires today (January 31, 2024) and that negotiations to renew the contract have fallen short. According to Reuters, TikTok and UMG first reached an agreement in February 2021.

UMG wrote: “In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing [TikTok] on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”

Our core mission is simple: to help our artists & songwriters attain their greatest creative and commercial potential, which is why we must call time out on TikTok.

Learn More: https://t.co/yJDQ7FdgNc pic.twitter.com/Lhluz1ez5H

— Universal Music Group (@UMG) January 31, 2024

On the matter of artist compensation, UMG claims “TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay”, which it says accounts for one per cent of its revenue. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG wrote.

When it comes to concerns over artificial intelligence, UMG claims TikTok “encourages AI music creation on the platform itself” by developing tools to support the cause while “demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists, in a move that is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI”.

Touching on artist and user safety on the platform, UMG wrote in its letter that “the only means available to seek the removal of infringing or problematic content (such as pornographic deepfakes of artists) is through the monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process which equates to the digital equivalent of ‘Whack-a-Mole’.”

UMG also alleged that TikTok resorted to “intimidation” when UMG proposed the platform “take similar steps as our other partner platforms to try to address these issues”. UMG also alleged that TikTok tried 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” by “selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars”.

“TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans,” UMG wrote.

In closing, UMG noted that while it understands and acknowledges the effect removing its music from TikTok will have on up-and-coming artists, it is steadfast in its decision and “an overriding responsibility to our artists to fight for a new agreement under which they are appropriately compensated for their work, on a platform that respects human creativity, in an environment that is safe for all, and effectively moderated”.

Today (January 31), TikTok published its own statement in response to UMG, accusing the publisher of pushing a “false narrative and rhetoric” and for putting its “own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters”.

TikTok’s short statement notes that UMG has “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”.

The platform’s response ends by claiming it 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.”

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