Universal Music Group and TikTok recently had a huge fall-out over payments, which lead to the music company withdrawing their entire catalogue from the social app. However, the argument has now ended.
Good news for TikTok creators. You’ll now be able to access a wider music library again. Songs by your favourite artists will appear back on the app, thanks to the arguments between Universal Music Group and TikTok coming to an end.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok have made a big deal to bring back UMG’s artists, like Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo, to TikTok’s platform. UMG had taken its music off TikTok on February 1st because their old contract ended.
They couldn’t come to an agreement over pay. UMG refused to renew their contract due to their claims that music artists were being unfairly paid by TikTok. However, the video platform didn’t agree with these comments, hence UMG making the decision to remove the catalogue.
It did mean that millions of TikTok videos were then muted. Simply because the music the creators had used had now been removed from the platform. Many got around this by then changing their audio, but it did cause a bit of upset at the time.
The new deal tackles issues about computer-generated music. TikTok promise to make sure that AI technology in the music industry respects artists and songwriters. They’ll also work together to stop any music made by AI that’s not authorised.
TikTok have said they will make sure artists get the credit they deserve. Creators will now see UMG’s music catalogue available to use again. Ole Obermann, from TikTok, is happy about having UMG and UMPG back on board. They’re excited to use AI in a good way.
Apart from this, the deal brings new ways for artists to make money through TikTok’s online shopping features. TikTok will also keep improving tools for artists, like analytics and ticket sales. Meaning, artists can advertise their tours and merchandise easily.
