Universal Music Group Accuses TikTok of Unfair Artist Compensation, Will Remove Songs From Platform

The catalog of the likes of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and other artists signed to Universal Music Group (UMG) will be removed from TikTok after the label and social media platform failed to renegotiate their licensing contract.

In a scathing open letter, UMG accused TikTok of refusing to appropriately compensate their artists and protect artists from AI and copyright infringement. The major record label alleged that TikTok offered to pay UMG artists and songwriters “at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” also revealing that despite the platform’s growing user base and increase in music-based content, TikTok accounts for only around 1% of the label’s revenue. The platform also supposedly removed the catalog of UMG’s up-and-coming artists but kept the music of its global stars as an intimidation tactic. ”Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG wrote.

The label further claims that TikTok is not doing its part in vetting the AI-generated tracks that appear on its platform, and is even “developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself” while “demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists.” Moreover, UMG accuses TikTok of not offering any ” meaningful solutions” to “the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform” and will only remove the content via an inefficient process.

“But when we proposed that TikTok takes similar steps as our other platform partners to try to address these issues, it responded first with indifference, and then with intimidation,” the letter reads. “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.”

“TikTok’s tactics are obvious,” the letter continues, “use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans. We will never do that. We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and stand up for the creative and commercial value of music.”

In TikTok’s own brief statement, the platform accused UMG of putting “their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters” and of “walk[ing] 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.” It added that the platform has so far managed to reach “artist-first” agreements with other labels and publishers.