Universal Music Group Ends Relationship with TikTok & Pulls All Music from the Platform

Universal Music Group has called ‘time out’ on TikTok and released an open letter slamming the massive social media company.

In a surprising move that is sure to send shockwaves through the music industry, Universal Music Group (UMG) has declined to sign a new agreement to license their artists’ music to the social media platform TikTok. The previous agreement between the two companies expired at the end of January following lengthy and ultimately unfruitful negotiations for renewal. Users of TikTok have immediately felt the consequences as songs from their favorite UMG artists – Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish, just to name a few – have disappeared from the platform overnight.

UMG has released an open letter explaining their decision to their extensive roster of artists and songwriters, as well as to the general public. In the letter, they highlight three critical issues that were focused on during the negotiations with TikTok: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI [artificial intelligence], and online safety for TikTok’s users.” 

The scathing letter makes no secret of UMG’s feelings towards TikTok and their business practices, accusing them of “trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.” UMG claims that “TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.” They also detail TikTok’s “indifference” towards their concerns around AI and its effect on the artists and songwriters that prop up their platform.

On Triple J’s Hack podcast, music reporter Zan Rowe called the move from UMG “one of the biggest flexes I’ve ever seen in the music industry.” Zan noted that the news came “seemingly out of nowhere at the absolute eleventh hour” as everyone in and around the industry had assumed the contract would be renewed. She also discussed some dominoes that could fall soon, including other huge labels like Warner and Sony potentially supporting UMG as well as possible negative effects for the newly launched TikTok Music app.

TikTok has yet to make an official comment on the harsh open letter from UMG or their decision in general. Regardless of the corporate politics, it will, unfortunately, be the TikTok users that suffer the most as their favorite songs from Lana Del Rey, Fred Again…, SZA, and so many more vanish from the platform. The fallout from this situation has only just begun, and it’ll be interesting to see if either of these monster companies gives any ground.

Gus Johnson

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, I’ve always had a passion for writing and was introduced to the EDM scene in 2017. Since then, I’ve attended countless shows and several major festivals including Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas, Decadence CO, Hard Summer, and Shambhala. Some of my favorite artists are Seven Lions, Zeds Dead, NGHTMRE, Trivecta, and Jason Ross.

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