Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok have reached a new licensing agreement, marking the end of a months-long dispute.
This agreement will see the return of Universal artists to the popular short video app, TikTok.
Their dispute began when Universal claimed that TikTok paid artists and songwriters “a fraction” of the rate offered by similar social media platforms.
In response, Universal pulled millions of songs from the app, when they couldn’t reach an agreement with the artists. This made million of videos on the app soundless as music from UMG artists were taken down from the app.
This affected some of the biggest artists in the world, including Drake, Adele, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Jay-Z and many other big names in the music industry.
The two parties have now announced a “new multi-dimensional” licensing agreement. This agreement promises “significant industry-leading benefits” for Universal’s artists and labels.
All videos that had been muted due to the dispute will now be unmuted.
TikTok and Universal have announced their commitment to working together to drive value and promotion for all of UMG’s artists and songwriters.
They will also work together on campaigns supporting UMG’s artists across genres and territories globally.
In addition, the companies will put their combined efforts toward ensuring that AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and payments for artists and songwriters.
They will also work to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform.
Artists from Universal Music Group, which include SZA, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, and Post Malone are expected to return to TikTok.
Some of Taylor Swift’s songs have already been restored to TikTok.
