Billie Eilish, Adele, Taylor Swift: They are all signed to the world’s largest music company, Universal Music. He and his music said goodbye to the video platform TikTok almost three months ago. Now a deal has been reached.
The songs from the world’s largest music company, Universal Music, are set to return to the video app TikTok after a break of around three months. Universal, which has artists such as Billie Eilish, Drake and Adele under contract, pulled the music from the platform when the previous licensing deal expired at the end of January.
The dispute now appears to be resolved: There is a new agreement that, according to the company, provides for better remuneration for musicians and protection against the negative consequences of the AI boom. Financial details were not initially disclosed. Efforts are being made to offer music from artists from the record label company on TikTok again.
Criticism of compensation
In January, Universal Music Group announced that it had not agreed to the terms of a new agreement with TikTok and would no longer license content from its artists on TikTok. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
The video app allows users to add songs to their videos and enters into licensing agreements with the music industry. When Universal declared the negotiations had failed three months ago, the company criticized, among other things, the fact that TikTok had only offered musicians and song authors a “fraction” of the remuneration usual on other similar online platforms. Universal also expressed concern that music created using artificial intelligence could replace artists’ works.
The Universal Music Group wanted to achieve three things in the negotiations with TikTok – compensation for artists that was considered appropriate, protection of artists from the negative consequences of artificial intelligence and security for users of the video platform.
AI should be restricted
In recent years, the company has become the platform on which many people discover music – and thus one of the most important marketing tools in the industry. Taylor Swift recently returned some of her songs to TikTok ahead of the release of her new album “The Tortured Poets Department.” The musician is also under contract with Universal, but holds the rights to her songs.
Universal Music Group and TikTok said Universal Music Group’s artists, songwriters and labels would see significant benefits under the new agreement. As part of the deal, both sides will work together to find new ways to make money from offers.
Both sides should also ensure that the development of artificial intelligence protects artistic activity and the payment of artists and songwriters. TikTok should also help remove unauthorized music generated with artificial intelligence from its platform.