Entertainment

Universal Music Group Announces End To Licensing Deal With TikTok

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Leena Nasir Entertainment Reporter
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Universal Music Group announced Tuesday that it will pull its song catalogue from TikTok on Jan. 31 after the corporation and the Chinese video app failed to come to terms on a licensing deal.

Songs from major artists including Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Drake will no longer be available on the platform. UMG issued an open letter to artists and songwriters titled, “Why we must call time out on TikTok,” as it explained the issues at hand.

“Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” it said in its open letter.

UMG detailed its frustration with TikTok and the nature of the breakdown in the two company’s negotiations.

“In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing them 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,” UMG wrote.

“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” UMG continued in its open statement, also noting that TikTok only accounts for roughly 1% of UMG’s revenue.

UMG accused TikTok of being flooded with AI-generated recordings, which it said had the potential to dilute the royalties for human artists.

TikTok users will be immediately affected, as they will no longer be able to use music recorded by UMG artists in their TikTok videos.

“We recognize the challenges that TikTok’s actions will cause, and do not underestimate what this will mean to our artists and their fans who, unfortunately, will be among those subjected to the near-term consequences of TikTok’s unwillingness to strike anything close to a market-rate deal and meaningfully address its obligations as a social platform,” UMG wrote.

TikTok took aim at UMG in a statement issued Tuesday night in response to UMG’s decision.

“It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters,” it said. “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.”

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 26: Taylor Swift attends the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for MTV)

TikTok went on to blame UMG for the breakdown in the relationship, citing that it has “been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher.”

The app slammed UMG by concluding, “clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.” (RELATED: Netflix Releases Streaming Data For ‘Transparency’)

UMG’s decision to pull its catalogue from TikTok was made days before one of the biggest events in entertainment industry, The Grammy Awards.

TikTok and its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance’s personnel can allegedly view the private connections of politicians, Forbes reported in September 2023. (RELATED: FBI, DOJ Investigating TikTok Parent Company Over Surveillance Of Americans: REPORT)

Several states, as well as the U.S. government, have banned the TikTok app on government devices in recent months over surveillance concerns, specifically that the app is at least in part controlled by the government in China.