Musicians are expressing their disappointment after TikTok pulled their music from the app.
Yesterday, millions of songs by some of the world’s biggest artists were pulled from TikTok by Universal Music Group after the two failed to finalise a new licensing agreement that expired on January 31.
UMG artists include Taylor Swift, the Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo. Now, any video featuring artists signed with Universal has their music muted, and new videos can’t be made with those tracks.
Now lesser-known artists are speaking up about the move, saying it robs lesser known artists from vital exposure.
Noah Kahan, whose song Stick Season has had considerable success because of the app, addressed the decision on TikTok, saying: “I won’t be able to promote my music on TikTok any more … I’ll probably be OK, right? I’ll probably land on my feet, right? Right?”
Universal says TikTok is paying a “fraction” of the royalty price that similar platforms cough up despite its soaring revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content. They say TikTok only makes up around 1% of its total revenue.
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