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Jack Antonoff
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Following this week’s news that Universal Music Group is pulling its song catalog from TikTok after failing to reach a new licensing deal with the social media platform, Jack Antonoff gave an unvarnished reaction to the sudden removal after winning the producer of the year award (non-classical). at the 2024 Grammys on Sunday. Antonoff frequently collaborates with UMG artist Taylor Swift, whose songs disappeared from the platform on Wednesday.
“There’s a whole industry that says, ‘You have to do everything; you have to do everything, and this is where you have to do it,’ and then one day it’s like, ‘Phew!'” Antonoff said in the press room backstage at the Grammys when asked about TikTok’s deletion . “There are many things that are wrong (in the industry). The last time I was here we were talking about ticketing; You always want to make sure, as an artist, that you don’t get used to being paid less, which is something they try to get you used to. But I think it’s the other way around and we should have at least known that.”
“Is that the one that is going to be news?” She joked with her response.
Antonoff was nominated twice in this year’s song of the year category, for his work with Swift on “Anti-Hero” and with Lana Del Rey on “A&W.” He is also the leader of the band Bleachers.
Universal Music Group abruptly announced Tuesday that it was pulling its catalog from the music-focused app in a dizzying manner. open letter to artists and songwriters titled “Why We Should Call Time Out on TikTok.”
“In our discussions about contract renewal, we have been pressing them on three critical issues: adequate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for users of TikTok,” the open letter said.
“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters a fee that is a fraction of the fee paid by major social platforms in similar situations,” he continued, adding that TikTok currently represents only about 1 percent of UMG’s revenue. “Ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a business based on music, without paying fair value for the music.”
When it comes to artificial intelligence, UMG maintains that “TikTok is allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings, in addition to developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself, and then demand a contractual right. “which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists, in a move that is nothing short of sponsoring the replacement of artists by AI.”
TikTok responded to UMG with a statement of its own Tuesday night:
“It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put its own greed before the interests of its artists and songwriters,” the statement began. “Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is that they have decided to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with over a billion users that serves as a free vehicle of promotion and discovery for their talent.”
“TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist first’ deals with all other labels and publishers,” he continued. “Clearly, Universal’s selfish actions are not in the best interest of artists, songwriters and fans.”
Best New Artist nominee Noah Kahan, signed to UMG’s Republic Records, also weighed in on the topic on the Grammys red carpet, saying The Hollywood Reporter “It’s definitely a difficult conversation and definitely a difficult topic, I haven’t digested all the facts and I don’t think everyone knows everything. It’s probably a shame for developing artists, I’m very, very lucky to have built a career for eight years and built a fan base. “I hope it gets resolved, of course, but I like to believe that music was made before TikTok and there’s a way around it and I’m just thinking about the younger artists and hoping they find their place.”