After a major dispute broke out between the social media site and the artists’ record label, this might be the last day you can listen to Taylor Swift, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar on TikTok.
Currently, Universal Music Group permits TikTok users to use music by its artists in their videos, which helps to highlight up-and-coming talent, magnify the success of big singers, and, in the instance of Murder On The Dancefloor, bring back successes from the past.
However, Universall has accused the platform of ‘bullying’ over its licence fees, meaning millions of songs could disappear from TikTok when the clock strikes midnight.
Universal said TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was trying to pay a much lower rate for its entire back catalogue than other social media platforms.
In response, TikTok accused Universal of ‘putting their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters’.
The current contract expires at midnight, meaning if a deal is not struck, artists including The Beatles, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Elton John and Bob Dylan will disappear from TikTok.
An open letter posted by Universal highlighted the importance of music to TikTok, yet added the income contributed just 1% of the record label’s revenue.
‘Its senior executives proudly state publicly that “music is at the heart of the TikTok experience” and our analysis confirms that the majority of content on TikTok contains music, more than any other major social platform,’ it wrote.
‘Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.’
In a short statement on its website, TikTok said Universal was pushing a ‘false narrative and rhetoric’.
‘TikTok has been able to reach “artist-first” agreements with every other label and publisher,’ it said. ‘Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.’
However, it is not only money causing the rift.
Universal also raised the spectre of artificial intelligence in its letter, stating that TikTok was ‘allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings’.
It said the company was also developing tools to ‘enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself’, diluting the royalty pool for human artists – ‘a move that is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI’.
The scathing letter also slammed TikTok’s response to dangerous content on the platform.
TikTok did not address any points raised in Universal’s statement beyond the pay deal.
Universal claimed that when it raised the issues directly with TikTok, it was met ‘first with indifference, and then with intimidation’, as the platform began ‘selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.’
With only a few hours left to go, time is running out for a resolution between the two global powerhouses. If no agreement can be reached, TikTok will sound very different tomorrow.
