Universal Music Group, who own the rights to Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Drake and more, have threatened to remove its music from TikTok, revoking the platform’s licence, after the two failed to reach a deal on key issues, including artist compensation.
Universal wants the platform to increase payment to the artists, and address the rising trend of using AI to create music on the app.
The licence expires soon, and revoking it would be a blow to the app as around 60% of videos posted include music.
“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay.”
“As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted 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.”
It wasn’t disclosed how much it was paid in the previous deal, or what increase it’s seeking from the platform that averages around 1.5 billion estimated monthly users.
TikTok responded to Universal, accusing them of putting “their own greed above the interests of artists and songwriters.”
Universal has said TikTok accounts for only 1% of its advertising revenue, despite its musicians representing 8 / 10 of the most popular artists on the site last year.
TikTok has yet to respond specifically to the allegation, however, it did accuse Universal of “false narrative and rhetoric,” pointing out it was able to sign deal with other major music labels.
Last year, the company signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group, which represents Madonna, Lizzo, and Ed Sheeran, among others.
“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.”
