TikTok Pulls Music From Taylor Swift, Drake, & More as Universal Music Group Deal Expires

Update on May 2, 2024:

The days of TikTok being awfully quieter will soon be a thing of the past. Just a few months after pulling all the music of its artists from the social media platform, Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok have reached a new agreement.

On May 2, UMG and TikTok announced they had solidified a new “multi-dimensional licensing agreement” that guarantees the return of all of UMG’s music to the app “expeditiously.” While the companies have already signed the deal, the timeframe seems unclear as they only claimed the music will return to the app in “due course.”

“Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem, and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group,” TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew said in the statement announcing the news. “We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery, and promotion for all of UMG’s amazing artists and songwriters and deepen their ability to grow, connect, and engage with the TikTok community.”

Prior to the new agreement, Taylor Swift, who was affected by the original contract expiration, had her music restored on the platform ahead of the release of The Tortured Poets Department. Variety noted this could be due to the platform reaching a separate deal with Swift, who owns the masters to her music despite being distributed by UMG.

As part of the new agreement, UMG and TikTok will also “work together to realize new monetization opportunities utilizing TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities and will work together on campaigns supporting UMG’s artists across genres and territories globally.”

Previously, on February 2, 2024:

Have you noticed that your TikTok FYP has gotten quieter?

Universal Music Group — home to artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, BTS, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Karol G, and many more — announced it had failed to reach a new licensing agreement with TikTok, which will result in the removal of the company’s entire catalog from videos used in the app.

UMG’s existing licensing contract with TikTok officially expired on January 31, 2024. The previous day, the music giant released an open letter notifying artists that their renewal negotiations were unsuccessful, citing “TikTok’s unwillingness to appropriately compensate artists and songwriters, protect human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and address online safety issues for TikTok’s users” as the main reasons for the disagreements.

Slowly but surely, TikTok has become a key player when it comes to music promotion, but that could be changing. As Billboard notes, TikTok and UMG’s prior licensing agreement covered both recorded music and publishing holdings. “When the company pulls that catalog, it will pull any song any of the songwriters it represents contributed to as well, impacting many other labels and publishers in the coming weeks,” the music publication noted.