UMG Artists Disappear From TikTok

The world’s largest record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), has started pulling its music from TikTok, after the 2 heavyweights failed to sign a new deal following lengthy contract negotiations.

According to a posting at ChartR.co newsletter, there’s no love lost between the pair, with UMG citing TikTok’s lack of protections against AI in a scathing open letter, as well as deriding the app’s compensation rates for being “a fraction” of what other major social platforms pay. In response, TikTok slammed UMG’s “false narrative” and “self-serving actions”.

TikTok users will no longer be able to soundtrack their videos with songs from UMG’s mind-bogglingly extensive catalog, with the work of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Adele, The Beatles, and Drake, among others, being removed from the app.

With a presence in 74 countries, UMG makes up nearly one-third of the industry, spending big to sign artists to one of its 100+ labels. All told, the company accounts for nearly double the market share of competitor Warner Music Group, and greater than the combined share of all independent record labels.

The dispute brings to light the complicated economics of an industry that's been in an almost permanent state of flux, with 5 major format changes (vinyl, cassette, CD, download, and streaming) in roughly as many decades. Although TikTok’s power comes from its ability to popularize music from emerging artists, with songs trending on the app often breaking into the charts, it’s not been exactly clear how the power dynamic between social media behemoths like TikTok and artists, labels, and publishers has changed in recent years — but with UMG’s departure, we might be about to find out.