Universal Music Group withdrew from its licensing deal with TikTok on Feb. 1, muting possibly millions of videos.
Users who had posted videos utilizing songs from UMG artists were shocked to wake up on Thursday and discover that their videos were silent. From SZA to Harry Styles to Olivia Rodrigo, TikTok lost a massive chunk of its most viral sounds.
In an open letter published the day before, the music publishing giant cited subpar artist compensation and the app’s tolerance of artificial intelligence recordings recreating artists’ voices as the reasons to end the partnership.
“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 statement read.
“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.”
The label removed over four million songs from the app’s audio library and is home to global sensations such as Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. UMG also said the app attempted to “bully” the company into accepting a deal “far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.”
Although not all music has been removed, UMG happens to license the music of many of the world’s most popular artists.
In typical TikTok fashion, most users have turned it to their advantage by producing content with the remnants of the audio library. Video edits of celebrities set to instrumentals of the national anthem and other unorthodox audios can be found all over the app.
TikTok did not take kindly to the accusations in UMG’s letter and issued its own public statement on Jan. 30.
“It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters,” it said.
“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. 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.”
This is not the first time a record label has removed its music from a social media platform. In 2008, Warner Records ended its license agreement with YouTube, removing music videos from the site.
However, the decision didn’t last long. The label renewed its deal nine months later and has kept its music on the platform.
It is unclear if UMG’s music will return to TikTok.
