Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Neilson Barnard | beautiful images
Popular music groupthe record label for top music artists including Taylor Swift, has reached a new licensing agreement with TikTok, ending a dispute between the two companies.
In a statement Thursday, UMG said the licensing agreement would result in the return of its artists’ music to TikTok.
As of Thursday morning, several Taylor Swift songs, including tracks from the pop star’s new album The Tortured Poets Department, had been restored to the platform, CNBC verified.
Earlier this year, TikTok pulled songs from artists signed to UMG after The two sides failed to reach a new agreement on content licensing, causing a public controversy. Music from artists including Swift and Drake is no longer available on TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance.
UMG accused TikTok of bullying and intimidation during contract negotiations, and alleged that TikTok offered to pay its artists and musicians “at a fraction of what the Large social platforms have similar positions to pay.”
At the heart of the controversy is the contention that TikTok allows its platform to sabotage artists’ intellectual property with illegally created AI songs. UMG claims the social media platform is “flooded with AI-generated recordings.”
UMG and TikTok’s new deal aims to improve compensation for songwriters and artists, provide promotional opportunities for their recordings and offer “industry-leading protections” when talking about creative AI.
The new agreement “focuses on the value of music, the primacy of the human arts and the well-being of the creative community,” said UMG President and CEO Lucian Grainge.
“We look forward to collaborating with the TikTok team to advance the interests of our artists and musicians and drive innovation in fan engagement while driving monetization from music on social media.”
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, said the platform is “committed to working together to increase the value, discoverability and promotion of all of UMG’s amazing artists and musicians.” .
TikTok and UMG said they will work to ensure AI developments in the music industry protect artists and that they are paid enough for their material.
TikTok will also work with UMG to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from its platform, as well as deploy tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution.
