Taylor Swift, Blackpink, BTS and More Popular Artist Songs to be Removed from TikTok After UMG's Licensing Agreement Termination

Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Blackpink, BTS, Post Malone's songs and many more popular songs to be removed from TikTok after UMG's licensing agreement termination.

Universal Music Group (UMG) will no longer provide content licenses to TikTok and TikTok Music services according to an announcement on Tuesday (Jan 30). The music label said that its agreement with the social media platform, which expires on Jan 31, has not been renewed.

The renowned music label, the biggest music giant for superstar artists in the industry such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, has issued a strong warning to TikTok. In a public letter, the company said that it will withdraw its music from the platform unless they can come to an agreement regarding fair compensation and enhanced security measures.

UMG alleged that TikTok is attempting to establish a music-focused enterprise while underrating the worth of music.

According to UMG, TikTok's suggested payment rate for artists and songwriters is significantly lower compared to what other prominent social platforms in similar positions offer.

UMG emphasized that their current licensing deal with TikTok is due to expire on Wednesday. They expressed concerns about three crucial matters: ensuring proper compensation for their artists and songwriters, safeguarding human artists from the potential negative impacts of artificial intelligence, and prioritizing online safety for TikTok users. UMG made it clear that if a new agreement is not reached by January 31st, they will no longer license their content to TikTok and its music services.

The open letter said that TikTok suggested paying our artists and songwriters at a proportionately lower rate compared to other well known social platforms. Presently, to show the meager compensation TikTok provides, despite its extensive and expanding user base, surging advertising income, and growing dependence on music-related content, TikTok contributes merely around 1% of our overall revenue.

UMG has accused TikTok of attempting to establish a music-focused enterprise while underrating the worth of music. They claim that TikTok is trying to pressurize them into accepting a deal that is even less favorable than the previous one, labeling it as a form of bullying. UMG also alleges that TikTok has tried to intimidate them by selectively removing the music of certain developing artists, while retaining the content of their globally renowned stars, who attract a significant audience to the platform.

UMG repeated that TikTok's strategies are transparent: leveraging its influential platform to harm susceptible artists and attempting to pressurize us into accepting an unfavorable agreement that depreciate music, cheats artists and songwriters, and disappoints their supporters. UMG firmly said that they will never give away to such tactics.

UMG has expressed concern over TikTok's role in overwhelming the platform with AI-generated recordings. Additionally, they have highlighted TikTok's efforts in developing tools that facilitate and promote AI music creation on the platform. UMG perceives this as a sponsorship of artist replacement by AI, a significant development worth noting.