Universal Music Group (UMG) has begun removing the music catalogs of the performers under its label, including Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo, from TikTok after negotiations to renew licensing agreements broke down this week.
The Verge reported that the previous agreement between Universal and TikTok expired on Jan. 31.
Earlier this week, UMG accused the video platform of attempting to bully it into accepting a "bad deal" that does not allay its concerns about adequate compensation for artists and songwriters, protections against AI-generated music, and online safety on the platform to protect artists from "hate speech, bigotry, bullying, and harassment."
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Universal Music Artists No Longer Available on TikTok
In response, TikTok said that it was "disappointing" that UMG chose to "walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users," accusing the label of putting its "own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters."
As a result of the pullout, all UMG-owned music featured in TikTok videos would be muted. For example, all Taylor Swift songs, including "Taylor's Version" re-recorded albums, have been made unavailable.
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