Without Taylor Swift, Drake, and The Weeknd: the label to pull millions of songs from TikTok after negotiations breakdown
Kyiv • UNN
Universal Music will remove its songs from TikTok after negotiations on payment rates broke down.
Universal Music is going to remove millions of songs from TikTok after payment negotiations broke down, UNN reports citing the BBC.
Details
The move will mean that the social media platform will no longer have access to songs by artists such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Drake.
Universal has accused TikTok of "bullying" and said it wants to pay a "fraction" of the rate that other social networks pay for access to its extensive catalog.
TikTok said that Universal was presenting a "false narrative and rhetoric.
Music companies receive royalties when their songs are played on streaming platforms and social networks.
Although TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has more than one billion users, it accounts for only 1% of Universal's total revenue, the label said in a statement.
In an "open letter to the community of artists and songwriters," Universal, which controls about a third of the world's music, said that "ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a music business without paying fair value for music.
Universal also said that along with demanding "appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters," it is also concerned about "protecting artists from the harmful effects of AI and the online safety of TikTok users.
The company said it will stop licensing its content to TikTok when its contract expires on January 31.
In response, TikTok said: "It's sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed ahead of their artists and songwriters.
"Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is that they have chosen to withdraw from the strong support of a platform with over a billion users that is a free means of promoting and discovering their talent," it added.
This is the first time Universal has taken a major step to remove its songs from the tech firm's platform.
Universal holds a dominant position in the global recording industry. It owns the rights to a huge number of artists, from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Elton John and Ariana Grande.
He also owns the rights to Murder on the Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, which recently became a hit on TikTok.
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Last July, Warner Music, the world's third-largest record company, and TikTok signed a new license agreement.
