TikTok is losing more songs in its dispute with Universal Music Group (UMG) as the social media network has started removing songs published by UMG, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The dispute between the two companies began last month when UMG announced it could not reach an agreement with TikTok's parent company ByteDance over royalties. As a result, TikTok had until January 31st to remove songs owned or distributed by UMG. Now, the company has had to remove songs that include songs managed by Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).
TikTok says it must remove all songs written or co-written by songwriters signed to UMPG and mute all videos featuring those songs. Videos containing affected songs will continue to remain on the platform, but no audio will be output. The company says the UMG and UMPG catalogs account for 20% to 30% of TikTok's popular songs.
The change means that if a songwriter signed to UMPG contributes even a small portion of a song owned by another label, TikTok will have to remove that song from the platform. While the initial removal of songs owned and distributed by UMG primarily affected its own artists and songwriters, this latest move also affects some artists signed to other labels. means to receive.
To comply with the law and remove all content licensed from UMPG by the end of February, the company says you should start removing songs now.
UMG did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
Last month, UMG wrote an open letter to artists and songwriters in which it accused TikTok of attempting to “bully.” [UMG] We ended up accepting a deal that was worth less than the previous deal, much lower than fair market value, and did not reflect exponential growth. ” The company also noted that TikTok accounts for only about 1% of its total revenue.
On the same day, TikTok released an open letter saying it was “sad and unfortunate that Universal Music Group put its own desires ahead of the interests of artists and songwriters.” The company said UMG's actions were “self-inflicted.”
UMG says the change won't affect its revenue, but it does mean artists and songs can no longer promote their music on one of the most popular social platforms, especially those known for promoting music discovery. It definitely has an impact on writers. Artists and songwriters will also lose the royalties they earn from their music on TikTok.
UMG acknowledges these downsides, but states in the letter that “UMG has the following overriding responsibilities:” [its] Artists need to fight for new contracts that will properly compensate them for their work. ”