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Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Universal Music Group (UMG) says it will pull its entire music catalog from TikTok when its contract with the service expires on Wednesday (Jan. 31), accusing the platform of “trying to build a business based on music, without paying a value.” just for the music,” according to a new open letter.
In the letter, published on Tuesday (Jan. 30) and addressed to UMG artists and songwriters, the company states that it is particularly concerned about the rates that TikTok offers to pay for its catalog. Other points of contention include the amount of content on TikTok that infringes on the works of its artists and songwriters without providing them with “meaningful solutions” to help them combat it, the level of hate and harassment on the platform, and TikTok’s stances on artificial intelligence ( AI). .
“With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters a fee that is a fraction of the fee paid by major social platforms in similar situations,” the letter reads.
Also according to UMG, during negotiations, the ByteDance-owned social giant “demanded a contractual right that would allow (AI) content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists” while “developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation.” on the platform itself,” which according to UMG is “nothing less than sponsoring the replacement of artists by AI.”
In the letter, UMG went on to claim that when it proposed that TikTok take “similar measures as our other platform partners to try to address these issues, it responded first with indifference and then with intimidation.”
“While our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal that was worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value, and does not reflect its exponential growth,” the letter added. “How did he try to intimidate us? “Selectively removing music from some of our developing artists, while keeping our audience-driving global stars on the platform.”
If UMG pulls its catalog, it would affect all music distributed and managed by its recorded music division, as well as Universal Music Publishing Group. The company’s roster includes megastars such as Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Karol G and Post Malone.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest deal UMG struck with TikTok to license both its recorded music and its release was announced on February 8, 2021. In July, WMG signed a multi-year licensing deal with TikTok that allows the company to also use UMG’s music. WMG in your application. such as CapCut and its new “social streaming platform” TikTok Music, which is currently available in Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and Mexico. At the time the deal was announced, WMG CEO and Chairman Robert Kyncl and the CEO of TikTok shou chew He said the deal would benefit artists.
This is not the first time the music industry has had problems with TikTok. In 2019, when the platform was just getting started, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) asked Congress to investigate TikTok for possible copyright theft. It was also reported around the time that TikTok was operating with expired deal extensions that had been exempt since it acquired Musical.ly in late 2017. In March 2020, Billboard reported that the big three companies had reached short-term licensing agreements with TikTok.
Read the full open letter below.
Our primary mission is simple: help our artists and songwriters reach their greatest creative and commercial potential. To achieve these goals, our teams use their experience and passion to close deals with partners around the world—partners who take seriously their responsibilities to fairly compensate our artists and songwriters and treat the user experience with respect.
One such partner is TikTok, an increasingly influential platform with powerful technology and a huge user base around the world. As with many other platforms we partner with, TikTok’s success as one of the largest social platforms in the world has been based in large part on the music created by our artists and songwriters. Its top executives proudly state publicly that “music is at the heart of the TikTok experience,” and our analysis confirms that the majority of TikTok content contains music, more than any other major social platform.
The terms of our relationship with TikTok are set by contract, which expires on January 31, 2024. In our discussions about contract renewal, we have been pressing them on three critical issues: adequate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protection of human artists of harmful effects. of AI and online safety for TikTok users.
We have been working to address these and other issues related to our other platform partners. For example, our Artist-Centric initiative is designed to update the streaming compensation model and better reward artists for the value they deliver to platforms. In the months since its inception, we are proud that this initiative has been received so positively and adopted by a variety of partners, including the world’s largest music platform. We have also moved aggressively to embrace the promise of AI as we fight to ensure that artists’ rights and interests are protected now and in the future. Additionally, we have engaged several of our platform partners to try to drive positive changes for their users and, by extension, our artists, by addressing online safety issues, and we are recognized as the industry leader in focusing on impact broader scope of music in health and well-being.
Regarding the issue of compensation for artists and songwriters, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters a fee that is a fraction of the fee paid by major social platforms in similar situations. Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its huge and growing user base, rapidly increasing advertising revenue, and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total income.
Ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a business based on music, without paying fair value for the music.
On the AI front, TikTok is allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings, as well as developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself, and then demanding a contractual right that would allow that this content is massively diluted. the royalty fund for human artists, in a measure that is nothing less than sponsoring the replacement of artists by AI.
Furthermore, TikTok makes little effort to deal with the large amounts of content on its platform that infringes on our artists’ music and has offered no meaningful solutions to the rising tide of content adjacency issues, let alone the wave of hatred, intolerance, Intimidation and harassment on the platform. The only means available to seek removal of infringing or problematic content (such as pornographic artist deepfakes) is through the monumentally cumbersome and inefficient process that amounts to the digital equivalent of “Whack-a-Mole.”
But when we proposed that TikTok take similar steps as our other platform partners to try to address these issues, it responded first with indifference and then with intimidation.
As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal that was worth less than the previous deal, much less than fair market value, and did not reflect its exponential growth. How did he try to intimidate us? Selectively removing music from some of our developing artists, while keeping our audience-driving global stars on the platform.
TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use the power of its platform to harm vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into accepting a bad business that undervalues music and defrauds artists and songwriters, as well as their fans.
We will never do that.
We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and defend the creative and commercial value of music.
We recognize the challenges that TikTok’s actions will cause and do not underestimate what this will mean for our artists and their fans who, unfortunately, will be among those subject to the short-term consequences of TikTok’s unwillingness to reach anything resembling a market. fee agreement and significantly address its obligations as a social platform. But we have a primary responsibility to our artists to fight for a new agreement under which they receive adequate compensation for their work, on a platform that respects human creativity, in an environment that is safe for all and effectively moderated.
We honor our responsibilities with the utmost seriousness. Intimidation and threats will never make us avoid those responsibilities.
(This is a developing story.)