TikTok Forced to Remove More Music as UMG Royalties Standoff Continues
What’s Happening & Why This Matters
TikTok is facing a new wave of music takedowns as it clashes with Universal Music Group (UMG) over royalties. UMG has removed its recordings from the platform, including songs by artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd. The dispute has now extended to songs published by UMG, potentially leading to millions of tracks being muted on TikTok in the coming days.
Artists partnered with songwriters under contract to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) are the latest casualties in this dispute. Due to split copyrights, songs involving UMPG-contracted writers may also be pulled from TikTok. This means collaborations with popular artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, Justin Bieber, and others could also disappear from the platform. The removal of these tracks could hinder artists’ ability to promote their music on TikTok.
t/f Summary: What’s Next
UMG has already removed approximately three million songs from TikTok amid a dispute over its recording catalog. The company’s agreement covering its publishing catalog, which includes around four million songs, is set to expire soon, potentially leading to the removal of even more tracks from the platform.