Taylor Swift and Co.'s music may soon disappear from TikTok

Things may soon get a little quieter on the popular video platform TikTok, at least when it comes to the music of some of the world's stars. Universal Music Group (UMG) will end its cooperation with TikTok at the end of January 2024 and, among other things, will lose the rights to use songs by artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, Adele, Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny.

The licensing agreement between UMG and TikTok expired on January 31 and so far there is no agreement on a new contract. The reasons for this are the inappropriate conditions on the part of ByteDance's video platform.

Several major problems from UMG's point of view

In a letter to artists and songwriters, UMG identified several key issues in working with TikTok. Additional terms of the partnership should include appropriate payment for artists and songwriters, adequate protection against the effects of artificial intelligence and online security for TikTok users. TikTok reportedly only paid artists a fraction compared to other social media platforms. UMG explained that TikTok represents only about 1 percent of its total revenue.

Mutual accusations

UMG alleges that TikTok is engaged in the development of AI music technologies and asserts a contractual claim that could significantly reduce human artists' revenues. TikTok denies this and claims that UMG tried to intimidate them during negotiations.

Create tik tok

The social media platform TikTok was founded in China in September 2016 by Zhang Yiming. Headquartered in Beijing, the app has gained immense popularity across the world since its inception. Hundreds of millions of users have already signed up on the platform to create and use creative short videos on a variety of topics.