TikTok removing songs by artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, and others, here is why

TikTok users will soon be deprived of popular songs by Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Blackpink, BTS, Post Malone, and many more. When you scroll through TikTok in the future, you may notice some changes in its appearance or audio.

Recently, Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced that it will no longer grant content licenses to TikTok and TikTok Music services. The music label's agreement with the social media platform, set to expire on January 31, has not been renewed.

UMG, known for representing superstar artists in the industry, including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, has issued a stern warning to TikTok. In a public letter, the company said that it will remove its music from the platform unless an agreement is reached regarding fair compensation and improved security measures.

This decision has prompted TikTok, owned by ByteDance, to start removing songs associated with UMG from its library. As of early Thursday, a large number of popular songs have vanished from the platform.

The effects of removing UMG-licensed music from TikTok may not be immediate, but avid users of the app are likely already experiencing the consequences.

Here's an update on the current situation:

The songs that are being pulled from TikTok are those that are licensed by UMG, which is a major player in the music industry and has a strong presence in our digital landscape.

According to Andrew Mall, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University, Universal Music Group is the largest record label in the history of the music industry. This means that a vast number of tracks and sounds will be impacted on TikTok, greatly limiting the choices available to creators.

As of now, when TikTok users search for popular songs under the "sounds" tab, they will no longer find many UMG-licensed tracks, including music from artists like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, and others.

Users will no longer have the option to add UMG-licensed songs to popular TikTok content like the next dance craze. Additionally, past videos featuring UMG-licensed music may be either muted or completely taken down, with TikTok making the final decision. Artists themselves will also be unable to post the audio of their UMG-licensed songs on the platform, as they will be muted to protect UMG's copyrights.

The process of completely removing these songs and their impact on TikTok may take a few days. It is worth mentioning that music licensing is a complex business, and artists often have different songs under different labels. While UMG tracks will be removed, songs exclusively licensed with other major music labels like Warner and Sony-owned labels will not be affected.