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Acapella, Alarm Tones & ‘Fluffing a Duck’: How TikTokers Are Working Around the UMG Ban


TikTok users are adopting alternative sounds in the wake of the UMG ban.

UMG issued an open letter on Jan. 30 citing concerns over AI, compensation, harassment and copyright infringement on the social media app. A remix of Ice Spice’s “Think U The Shit (Fart)” in the style of the Nintendo character Toad was uploaded to TikTok on Jan. 26 – just days before the licensing agreement expired – and has since gotten 2 million likes, having been used in close to 9,000 videos, often as a joking substitute for the original song. Conan Gray, who recently told Rolling Stone, “I think there’s going to be a lot of interesting acapella covers happening from UMG artists until this is settled,” sang over a clip of his own music video.

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