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You may have noticed that you can scroll and nod your head to the beat again. In May 2024, Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok reached a new licensing deal. The music licensing agreement between UMG and TikTok expired in January 2024, and the two have been in talks to renegotiate since.
UMG took measures to influence a better deal with TikTok.
While UMG and TikTok hashed out the details, UMG pulled all its songs and affiliated artists’ music from the popular video platform.
“We have been pressing them on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users. The sticking points being royalty payments and AI policies,” UMG said in a statement.
UMG continues in an open letter to artists and songwriters, “TikTok makes little effort to deal with the vast amounts of content on its platform that infringe our artists’ music, and it has offered no meaningful solutions to the rising tide of content adjacency issues, let alone the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform. The only means available to seek the removal of infringing or problematic content (such as pornographic deepfakes of artists) is through the monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process, which equates to the digital equivalent of “Whack-a-Mole.”
With an agreement reached, UMG artists are returning to the social media platform.
“This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry, and the welfare of the creative community. We look forward to collaborating with the team at TikTok to further the interests of our artists and songwriters and drive innovation in fan engagement while advancing social music monetization,” Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, said on their site.
Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok, also had sentiments to share. “Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem, and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group. We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery, and promotion for all of UMG’s amazing artists and songwriters and deepen their ability to grow, connect, and engage with the TikTok community.”
Artists signed to UMG include Drake, Adele, The Weeknd, SZA, and Taylor Swift. In a study commissioned by Luminate on the social media platform, one of the key findings was that globally, TikTok users discover and share new music content on social media. They do this more than the average social user. Also, globally, TikTok users spend “more money across music-related categories compared to the average music listener across all markets analyzed.”
The Universal Music Group and TikTok licensing deal will help artists who depend on the platform for discovery and promotion. Though they have resolved this dispute, US TikTok fans are waiting to see the platform’s fate with a potential ban.