Universal Music Group and TikTok have announced a new licensing agreement that will restore Universal’s songs and artists to the social media platform. The agreement comes after TikTok began removing Universal’s content from its app due to expired licensing and disagreements on royalty payments and online safety.
TikTok is a valuable marketing tool for the music industry, with many young users discovering music on the platform. According to Midia Research, TikTok is where 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States most commonly discover music, ahead of YouTube and music streaming services like Spotify. Tatiana Cirisano, Midia’s senior music industry analyst, stated that roughly a quarter of U.S. consumers say they listen to songs they have heard on TikTok.
However, Universal Music claims that the payments its artists and songwriters receive from TikTok are only a fraction of what they receive from other major social media platforms. The label stated that TikTok accounts for 1% of its annual revenue, compared to YouTube, which paid the music industry $1.8 billion from user-generated content.
The licensing deal with TikTok also addresses concerns about AI-generated recordings. Universal has claimed that TikTok is flooded with AI-generated recordings, including songs that users create with TikTok’s AI songwriting tools. TikTok argues that these AI-generated works should be eligible for royalty payments, while Universal opposes, stating that it would dilute the pool of money available to compensate human performers and composers. In April, the Artist Rights Alliance, a non-profit group of musicians and songwriters, published an open letter calling for the responsible use of AI in the creative community.
The deal between Universal Music Group and TikTok comes at a time when the future of TikTok in the United States is uncertain. President Joe Biden recently signed legislation giving TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, 270 days to sell its U.S. assets. TikTok has expressed its intention to challenge the legislation. Despite the controversy, TikTok remains popular in the United States, with over 170 million Americans using the video service.
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