Universal Music Group vs Tiktok: The Big Feud

The girls are fighting…

by ALEKSANDRA SHOGAN ★ FEBRUARY 12, 2024

February 1st, 2024 was the beginning of the heated conflict between the high-rise company Universal Music Groups (UMG), and the popular lip-sync, daily-in-the-life, comedy app – TikTok. Artists such as Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, and The Weekend, are just some of the few big names that have recently lost their streaming promotions on the app. This commotion began earlier this month, as UMG began pulling their artists' music from TikTok once their contract expired at the end of January. 

In an open letter, UMG claims TikTok could not shelter their concerns towards the “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.” Claiming that this was the solution to end the endless copyright issues, by removing their clients’ songs, so no one else would be able to make a profit and damage the security of UMG artists’ through artificial songs produced by TikTok users.

UMG continues their statement, addressing the underwhelming compensation factors TikTok has offered as well as stating their negotiation from the popular app is seen as “to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.” UMG prides itself on never falling short with its musicians; its motto is to fight for artists’ value and, therefore, TikTok’s intimidation will not cause the company to change its mind.

TikTok has since retaliated with its own address, stating, “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their personal gain above the interests of their artists and songwriters.” Fueling the fire more by disclaiming UMG's statement of neglect and false rhetoric, TikTok mentions that their platform is promotional and UMG does not have their artists’ and fans' best interest in mind. 

Noah Kahan, a Grammy-nominated Up and Coming artist, has been signed to Universal Music since 2017. He also spoke about the issue to address the recent ban on his songs. “So, like you, I’ve read the news about the UMG catalog taken off of TikTok, some of my songs aren’t gonna be on there anymore. I won’t be able to promote my music on TikTok anymore. But luckily, I’m not a TikTok artist, right?” he said. From a bystander outlook, Kahan took the approach as comical, understanding that he is more than just a TikTok musician and has a successful fan base to support his music regardless.

Users of TikTok have found ways to make fun of this situation by uploading public-domain audios, and doing what they do best, creating TikTok dances to these songs. Some users have reposted the artists’ audio with reverbs and other editing. There has even been commotion to switch platforms to the rival of TikTok: Instagram Reels. As of now, there have been few updates regarding a new contract between companies, but there is hope for an end to the fighting one day.