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UMG poised to stop licensing TikTok music
If Universal Music Group and TikTok can’t strike a deal on Wednesday, TikTok may have to mute or remove billions of videos that features Universal Music Group's licensed music. Matthew McClellan reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - The next time you open TikTok, you may discover that much of the music added to videos by your favorite content creators has disappeared.
In an open letter to musicians published late Tuesday, international music corporation Universal Music Group explained "why we must call time out on TikTok."
UMG said it will no longer license its content to the video giant if the two are unable to agree to a new licensing contract. The current agreement expires on Wednesday.
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In one key passage of the letter, the music conglomerate accused TikTok of attempting "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."
File: TikTok
UMG alleges that the video platform intimidated them "by selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars."
In response to the claims made by Universal, TikTok published its own statement Tuesday night accusing UMG of putting "their own greed above interests of their artists and songwriters."
The platform went on to counter that "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."
File: TikTok
If the two sides do not come to an agreement on Wednesday, TikTok may have to mute or altogether remove billions of videos featuring UMG's licensed music, including songs by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake and Billie Eilish.
TikTok concluded its response to UMG by saying that it had been able to reach 'artist-first' agreements "with every other label and publisher" excluding Universal. "Clearly, Universal's self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans," the statement reads.