Starting today, the sound on TikTok may be a little quieter. That's because Universal Music Group plans to remove its catalog from the video-sharing app after the music giant failed to reach a licensing deal with TikTok. Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish are just some of the label's major artists whose music could disappear.
On TikTok, creators often add short song clips to their videos to participate in viral trends and make their content more engaging. Not only will users soon be unable to create new videos using official snippets from UMG artists, but previously published videos containing music from the pulled catalog may also be silenced. UMG's catalog includes everyone from BTS to the Beatles, and any video featuring their songs could be an influence.
UMG released a statement on Tuesday, the day before its contract with TikTok expired, claiming that renewal talks broke down due to disagreements over artist compensation, protection of artificial intelligence, and platform security. The language of this statement characterizes TikTok as a bully. It says, “How did you try to blackmail us?” “By selectively removing the music of certain developing artists while keeping global stars who drive viewership on the platform.” Contracts expire, widespread song bans unfold. Previously, it is unclear which of UMG's smaller artists were influenced.
TikTok responded to the announcement with a similarly short but condemning statement, accusing UMG of greed and deceit. “Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is that they have chosen to walk away from the strong support of a platform with well over 1 billion users that serves as a free promotion and discovery vehicle for talent. That is what it says. TikTok's influence on the music industry has grown in recent years as artists (and their labels) try to break through the platform's arcane algorithms. A standalone app for streaming songs, called TikTok Music, is currently in beta for certain international markets.
As generative AI tools improve, songs featuring AI vocals and other structural elements continue to spread on social media. UMG's statement claims that TikTok is promoting the creation of AI music, and that the deal it seeks “is nothing more than sponsoring the replacement of artists by … AI.” This isn't the first time UMG has raised issues regarding machine learning. The label filed a lawsuit against chatbot company Anthropic last October over how Anthropic's AI models may use UMG artists' copyrighted lyrics.
