TikTok and UMG conflict - Sagarika Yagnyesh

Image Source- Plannthat.com

TikTok, formerly known as Musical.ly, is a social media platform for people to share music, photos, videos, and more. Since its creation, this platform has been used to post content from intricate dances to new songs, but recently, the use of many such songs has been limited. 

Universal Music Group, known as UMG, is the distributor for the content of many popular artists like Taylor Swift, Yeat, SZA, and more. They own many other smaller distribution companies and labels, such as Big Hit, which produces the hit k-pop boy band BTS, and many more. 

However, the contract between UMG and TikTok expired, and could not be renewed as the two companies recently got into a conflict regarding the rights of the artists and producers. According to UMG’s statement, TikTok had not been providing enough compensation for the artists promoted on the platform, only paying a “fraction of the rate” other platforms paid for the same content. Many artists under UMG also proclaimed their disdain for the use of AI using their voices to create different versions of songs, further reducing the amount of royalties they receive.

  In a recent statement, UMG declared, “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 market growth.” 

According to TikTok, Universal Music Group’s issues are its own, and that the problem does not lie with the social media platform as no other distribution group seems to have an issue with their contract. According to a post updated on the TikTok Newsroom, the company blames UMG for putting “their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.”

As the app was originally intended to share music and dances, many TikTok users raise concerns about the future of the platform itself. However, many smaller artists view a benefit in the conflict, as they can promote their music in the absence of songs by more prominent artists. 

Many users have been adapting to the situation already, some of whom have been viewing the conflict as a comedic situation. Many have been using classical music and music from ads to compensate for the loss of their usual editing audios.

Various other types of TikTok users have been adapting to this sudden change, and while there doesn’t seem to be a resolution in sight yet, this may not be entirely negative for both parties involved.