Popular TikTok music pulled in contract dispute
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If you were scrolling on TikTok Wednesday night and noticed that certain songs from popular artists like Taylor Swift have disappeared from videos, you weren’t alone.
Universal Music group said it would stop licensing its songs to TikTok if the two companies could not reach a new deal, as reported by the New York Times.
The contract expired on Wednesday, and Universal Music Group wanted to address its concerns over compensation for artists and songwriters, online safety for TikTok’s users and “protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI,” the Times reported.
Contract negotiations failed — starting a domino effect late Wednesday night of popular tunes being pulled from TikTok, according to Rolling Stone.
Recordings that are no longer appearing in search results on TikTok include hits like “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift, “Get Him Back” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Let The Light In” by Lana Del Rey, Rolling Stone reported.
Additionally, videos using Universal songs were muted, Rolling Stone said, and they now feature a prompt at the bottom that says the sound was removed due to copyright restrictions.
Videos that were muted, according to Rolling Stone, include:
- Some of Taylor Swift’s videos using her own songs like “Hits Different”
- Some of Justin Bieber’s videos, including a live performance of him singing “Yummy”
- Kylie Jenner’s video using “Cherry” by Lana Del Rey
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson video using “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross
In an open letter posted Tuesday, Universal accused TikTok of allowing the platform to be “flooded” with songs created by artificial intelligence, which dilutes royalties for real artists, the NYT reported, and responding to Universal’s requests with “indifference, and then with intimidation.”
“TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth … far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth,” the letter said. “How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.”
Universal’s open letter said that intimidation and threats won’t cause it to “shirk” its responsibility to fight for artists’ fair compensation. Universal said TikTok compensation only accounts for about 1% of its total revenue.
“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” the letter said. “Ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”
“TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher,” the statement read. “Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.”
The feud between Universal and TikTok indicates TikTok’s power and importance in the music industry, the NYT 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,” TikTok’s statement said.
The NYT said by emphasizing its value as a “free promotional and discovery vehicle,” TikTok underscored one of the music industry’s common nerves — “that tech platforms use music without fair compensation, and justify it by claiming promotional value.”