Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the world’s major record labels, has announced that it will start removing its songs from the music catalog in TikTok. The company states that it has been unable to reach a new licensing agreement since the original contract expired on January 31st.
The impact of this decision is that songs from numerous popular artists under UMG will no longer be available on TikTok. This includes Taylor Swift, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, and Thai music labels under UMG’s management.
UMG has also issued an open letter addressing several issues with TikTok, such as a significantly low revenue share and the platform’s lack of dealing with copyrighted songs generated by AI. It also highlights concerns regarding inappropriate user behavior that disrespects artists. Despite these issues, TikTok has proposed a new agreement with even lower revenue shares, which UMG believes is unreasonable as the platform continues to grow.
TikTok has responded to this matter by expressing disappointment and frustration towards UMG’s decision. They claim that UMG’s choice affects the benefits of both artists and songwriters. Additionally, TikTok points out that UMG is presenting misleading information, as the truth is that UMG is choosing to abandon a platform with billions of users, which can provide free promotion and exposure for artists. TikTok emphasizes that they always prioritize the benefits of artists in their agreements and do so with every record label.
TLDR: Universal Music Group (UMG) has decided to remove its songs from TikTok because they were unable to reach a new licensing agreement. This means popular artists like Taylor Swift and Drake will be missing from the platform. TikTok expresses disappointment and disagrees with UMG’s decision, emphasizing their commitment to artist benefits and the platform’s ability to promote music for free.
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