At the end of last month we were surprised by the news that UMG (Universal Music Group) had decided to withdraw all his songs in TikTok over disagreements over a new contract he was negotiating. However, the absence of gigantic artists and their repertoires on the social network has not stopped only at them but the group has gone one step further and songs by artists like Beyonce, Harry Styles… Because?
Because the multinational has asked the Chinese company to also remove the compositions of other artists who, despite not belonging to its discography, have had the participation at some point in the creative process (and recognized in the credits) by artists, producers or composers with contracts in force.
“Any recording of a song currently available on TikTok that was co-written by a composer signed to Universal Music Publishing must also be canceled in the event that the UMPG license expires,” they say from Music Business Worldwide.
That is exactly the explanation behind why they can no longer be found. popular Beyoncé songs like Cuff It in whose composition process he participated Raphael Saadiq. An example of many other songs that are no longer found by names as prominent as Rosalía, SZA, Bad Bunny, Steve Lacy…
The names of all these artists join a gigantic list of stars from around the world such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Feid, Drake, The Weeknd, Madonna, The Beatles, Aitana, Rihanna, Eminem, BTS…
And it does not seem that the solution will come in the short term after the exchange of accusations that have been launched between both companies. UMG wrote a letter to its artists in which it wrote: “TikTok insists on paying our songwriters a fraction of the fee paid by major social media platforms in similar situations, and without any material increase from our previous agreement… This It is unacceptable”. After the failure of the negotiations, he made it clear that the social network wanted to “intimidate us into accepting a bad agreement that undervalues music and defrauds artists and composers, as well as their fans.”
TikTok did not remain silent and said in a statement that UMG was creating a “false narrative. It is sad and disappointing that they have put their own greed before the interests of their artists and songwriters.” Speaking to Billboard, they assured that “our community comes to TikTok to watch videos, not to listen to full tracks. We are proud of the partnerships we are building with the industry and artists, and we are confident that we are improving musical engagement. That translates directly into more financial and creative opportunities for music creators.”
