Favourite songs are starting to disappear from TikTok and here’s why

Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents artistes including Drake, Adele, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish, says that it will no longer allow its music on TikTok now that a licensing deal between the two parties has expired.

UMG said that it had not agreed to terms of a new deal with TikTok, and plans to stop licensing content from the artistes it represents on the social media platform that is owned by Chinese company, ByteDance.

The licensing agreement between UMG and TikTok expired as of Wednesday. In a Tuesday letter addressed to artistes and songwriters, UMG said that it had been pressing TikTok on three issues: “Appropriate compensation for our artistes and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”

UMG said that TikTok proposed paying its artistes and songwriters at a rate that’s a fraction of the rate that other major social platforms pay. TikTok has more than one billion users but it accounts for only one per cent of Universal’s total revenue.

“Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG said.

TikTok pushed back against claims by UMG, saying that it has reached “artiste-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,” TikTok said.

WHAT MUSIC IS GETTING REMOVED FROM TIKTOK?

The takedown of UMG-related music has begun, TikTok confirmed to The Associated Press. As of early Thursday, a vast roster of popular songs were disappearing from the social media platform’s library.

The complete removal of UMG-licensed music will likely take a few days. The songs getting pulled from TikTok are those that are licensed by UMG – which carries an enormous reach across the music industry and, consequently, our digital diet today.

“Universal Music Group is literally the largest record label … in the history of the music industry,” said Andrew Mall, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University. An “uncountable number of tracks and sounds” would be impacted on TikTok, he added, significantly limiting options for creators.

TikTok users signing on Thursday will see that they are no longer able to search for many popular songs – including music from Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and more – under the “sounds” tab.

In addition to users no longer having the option of adding these songs to next dance craze and other trending content, past videos featuring UMG-licensed music will also be scrubbed. According to a UMG spokesperson, whether these existing videos are muted or taken down entirely will be up to TikTok.

Artistes will also not be able to post the audio of their UMG-licensed songs on TikTok. If the music has a UMG licence, it should be muted, the spokesperson said – noting the company will protect its copyrights.

Tour clips of artistes could also be affected, if those songs are represented by UMG, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

WILL IT LAST?

Despite the licensing deal’s expiration, experts note that it probably won’t last forever.

“We’ve seen this movie before. It’s a wonderful, theatrical stand-off between two very major corporations … who are wanting to assert their authority on the landscape,” said former president of UMG’s Virgin EMI Records Ted Cockle, who now runs music advisory company called Mussel Music Management.

Users will likely find ways to adjust in the meantime, Cockle added, but he and others doubt that such a standoff will last long – noting that a partnership between UMG and TikTok is significantly beneficial to both parties.

There will also likely be added pressure from TikTok creators, artistes and their fans.

“This is a platform that’s really important for artistes,” said Alexandra J. Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University. “It might not affect established artistes as much, but some of them are going to lose revenue streams. And I think we’re going to see frustrated fans, right?”

Representatives for several artistes with UMG-licensed music – including Bad Bunny, SZA, Drake, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish – did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.