Universal Music Group has severed ties with TikTok, resulting in the removal of songs by acclaimed artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, and others from the platform.
UMG Terminates Partnership with TikTok
In an open letter titled “An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community: Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok,” released on Tuesday (Jan. 30), Universal Music Group articulates the rationale behind their decision to withdraw songs from the widely-used social media platform.
“Our core mission is simple: to help our artists and songwriters attain their greatest creative and commercial potential,” the open letter begins. To achieve these goals, our teams employ their expertise and passion to strike deals with partners all around the world, partners who take seriously their responsibilities to fairly compensate our artists and songwriters and treat the user experience with respect.
“One of those partners is TikTok, an increasingly influential platform with powerful technology and a massive worldwide user base. As with many other platforms with whom we partner, TikTok’s success as one of the world’s largest social platforms has been built in large part on the music created by our artists and songwriters. Its senior executives proudly state publicly that “music is at the heart of the TikTok experience” and our analysis confirms that the majority of content on TikTok contains music, more than any other major social platform.
The letter goes on to explain that the two companies’ contractural agreement ends today (Jan. 31) and they will not be renewing because of the TikTok’s failure to address their issues.
“With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, 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 continues. “Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue.
Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music….We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and stand up for the creative and commercial value of music.
TikTok Responds
A representative from TikTok has issued a response to UMG’s decision in a statement provided to XXL.
The statement conveys disappointment, stating, “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.” It challenges UMG’s narrative, emphasizing that the label has chosen to distance itself from a platform boasting over a billion users, serving as a valuable free promotional and discovery tool for their talent. TikTok has successfully forged ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher, making Universal’s actions appear self-serving and contrary to the best interests of artists, songwriters, and fans.
In the past, Universal Music Group had raised concerns about the future of streaming. In April of the previous year, they took a firm stance against the proliferation of A.I.-created content on streaming platforms, successfully removing A.I.-generated songs from artists such as Drake and The Weeknd.
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