Why millions of songs by Taylor Swift, Drake and other artists may be removed from TikTok

Tik, Tik, Bye. The music of artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, Drake and many more will no longer be available on TikTok, as Universal Music and the social media platform were unable to reach a licensing agreement. Universal Music Group (UMG) has been pressing TikTok for appropriate artist and songwriter compensations in their contract renewal discussions, among other things, but the talks broke down. What does all this mean? And what happens next? Universal’s adieu to TikTok On Wednesday, UMG said that it had not agreed to terms of a new deal with TikTok, and plans to stop licensing content from the artists it represents on the social media platform that is owned by ByteDance, as well as TikTok Music services. UMG said that it had been pressing TikTok on three issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.” It added that TikTok proposed paying its artists and songwriters at a rate that’s a fraction of the rate that other major social platforms pay, adding that TikTok makes up only about one per cent of its total revenue. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG said. As per an Associated Press report, UMG took issue with what it described as safety issues on TikTok. UMG is unsatisfied with TikTok’s efforts to deal with what it says is hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment. It said that having troubling content removed from TikTok is a “monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process which equates to the digital equivalent of “Whack-a-Mole.” UMG said it proposed that TikTok take steps similar to what some of its other social media platform partners use, but that it was met with indifference at first, and then with intimidation. “As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth,” UMG 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 is a dominant leader in the global music industry. It holds the rights to a huge array of artists from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Elton John and Ariana Grande. Today, it is also holds the rights to pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor, which has been a recent hit on TikTok. [caption id=“attachment_13676402” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] TikTok has accused Universal Music of “false narrative and rhetoric” and pointed out it was able to sign deals with other major music labels. File image/Reuters[/caption] TikTok’s response TikTok has refuted Universal’s claims and in a statement said that it was “sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists.” Calling Universal’s characterisations “false,” the social media giant said the label had “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.” With inputs from AP, AFP and Reuters