Songs by Universal Music Publishing Group writers including Harry Styles, SZA and Steve Lacy have been removed from TikTok.
The war between TikTok and Universal Music Group intensified this week: songs written by Universal Music Publishing Group authors began to be removed from the short-form video platform.
The move comes nearly a month after UMG’s recorded catalog was removed from TikTok, with the record label announcing it had failed to reach a new licensing deal with the platform for its music. As of Tuesday, songs by Bad Bunny, Harry Styles and SZA, among others, no longer appear in searches and more videos are now muted.
When UMG announced that it had not reached a new agreement with TikTok at the end of January, the company clarified that the decision affected both its record labels and its publishing arm UMPG. The initial withdrawal made at the beginning of the month only concerned titles from artists signed by UMG labels such as Interscope, Republic or Def Jam.
The removal of the publishing company’s catalog is much broader in scope and concerns music from other record companies. Indeed, each piece of music benefits from two copyrights: one for the specific recording of a song (controlled by the labels) and the other for the lyrics and composition of a song (controlled by a music publisher). Songwriters can write songs for artists on many labels, so even a Sony or Warner record could be subject to delisting if a UMPG songwriter wrote or co-wrote the song.
Additionally, some artists do not have a recording contract with UMG, but have a publishing contract with UMPG. Harry Styles, Steve Lacy, and SZA, for example, are all signed to Columbia and RCA, which are owned by Sony, respectively, but UMPG is their publisher, meaning popular TikTok tracks like “ As It Was “, ” Bad Habit ” And ” Kill Bill » have been removed. Bad Bunny is signed to independent label Rimas, but he also has a publishing deal with UMPG, meaning his music is also removed.
Representatives for UMG and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. In its open letter earlier this month, UMG said the main obstacles to reaching a licensing deal were low payments, concerns over the use of AI and concerns regarding the safety of TikTok users. UMG said TikTok represents about 1% of the record company’s revenue.
The artists themselves are divided on the question. Some acknowledge that TikTok needs to pay more, given the important role music plays on the app. Others never viewed TikTok as a way to make money, but rather a promotional tool, or expressed frustration that the label did not consult its artists before removing their music and take away their most important tool for sharing their songs.
