Taylor Swift songs pulled from TikTok after her label UMG’s spat with the app

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Music hits by top artists such as Taylor Swift and Drake have vanished from TikTok. This followed a fallout between Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok over music licensing renewal disagreements, leading to a publicly aired dispute.

UMG and TikTok’s licensing contract expired on Wednesday, after which the UMG music content started disappearing from the TikTok platform. In the negotiation talks, UMG accused TikTok of proposing to pay the artists and songwriters meager rates compared to other major social platforms.

Further, UMG claimed TikTok is allowing AI-generated recordings to inundate its platform. TikTok retorted by accusing UMG of prioritizing its monetary interests over the welfare of its artists and songwriters.

A UMG spokesperson affirmed that TikTok has started to pull down their audio following the expiry of the licensing agreement. TikTok was unavailable for immediate comments on the matter.

Despite the squabble, TikTok has previously proven instrumental in escalating both new and older songs to viral status, prompting music labels to question whether the app sufficiently compensates artists for their music content. UMG disclosed that a mere 1% of its total revenue hails from TikTok, despite the platform’s expanding user base, escalating ad revenue, and growing reliance on music content.