Universal Music Group Will Pull Entire Catalog From TikTok, What That Means for Creators

Updated:

January 31, 2024 12:30 pm

American Songwriter participates in affiliate programs with various companies. Links originating on American Songwriter’s website that lead to purchases or reservations on affiliate sites generate revenue for American Songwriter . This means that American Songwriter may earn a commission if/when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links.

Universal Music Group has put plans in motion to pull its entire catalog of songs from TikTok following a breakdown in licensing agreements between the two companies, per a report from Music Business Worldwide. The current licensing agreement expired today (January 31), and the purge of UMG’s catalog has begun.

Videos by American Songwriter

This means that 3 million studio tracks and 4 million songs with publishing represented by UMG will not be able to be legally used on TikTok and in videos on the platform. Allegedly, negotiations broke down when UMG asked for three specific items in the new contract. One included “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters,” the other was “protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI,” with the third being “online safety for TikTok’s users.”

According to a statement from UMG, “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 publishing giant claimed that though UMG represents 8 out of 10 of the most popular artists whose music is used on TikTok, the platform represents only 1% of its advertising revenue, per a report from NBC News.

TikTok and Universal Music Group Fall Out Over Licensing Negotiations

TikTok put out a statement in response to UMG’s decision, stating, “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters. Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have 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.”

The statement continued, “TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-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.”

UMG also wrote an open letter to artists titled “Why We Must Call Time Out On TikTok,” where they claimed, “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music … “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.”

The company claimed that TikTok attempted to “intimidate” them into negotiating a deal by “selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists,” keeping “audience-driving global stars” on the platform.

So, how does this affect creators on TikTok and artists represented by Universal Music Group? TikTok creators now have limited access to music for their videos, and could possibly miss out on popular trends on other apps. As for the artists, they are losing an audience-building platform, but are not necessarily done for. There are still many different ways for an artist to build a following besides TikTok or social media. All is not lost for UMG-represented musicians. However, the days of hearing The Beatles or Billie Eilish on TikTok have come to an end.

Featured Image by Rich Fury/Getty Images for TikTok