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UMG Responds to TikTok, Calling Its Views on Artist and Writer Compensation ‘Woefully Outdated’

As works from UMG signees like Taylor Swift, BTS and Drake are being removed from TikTok due to a licensing dispute, the company fires back at the video app.

The stalemate between the world’s largest music company and the short-form video app was made public Tuesday when UMG released a strongly worded open letter to its artists and songwriters, explaining that all of their music would be removed from the platform if a licensing agreement was not reached by the following day. In the letter, UMG detailed its reasons for not being able to reach an agreement, including disagreements about compensation, artificial intelligence, infringing works on the platform, and harassment. “In fact, TikTok’s own statement perfectly sums up its woefully outdated view: Even though TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) has built one of the world’s largest and most valuable social media platforms off the backs of artists and songwriters, TikTok still argues that artists should be grateful for the “free promotion” and that music companies are “greedy” for expecting them to simply compensate artists and songwriters appropriately, and on similar levels as other social media platforms currently do.

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