ByteDance-owned TikTok and Universal Music Group have signed in Los Angeles what they describe as a “multidimensional licensing agreement”. Photos: Handout
ByteDance-owned TikTok and UMG have signed in Los Angeles what they describe as a “multidimensional licensing agreement” that would deliver significant industry-leading benefits for UMG’s global family of artists, songwriters and labels.
“Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group,” TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi said in a joint statement released this week by the two companies.
The new pact, as well as the sentiment expressed by Chew, showed the lengths taken by both parties to resolve their issues and an acrimonious dispute, which led UMG to pull its vast music catalogue from the short video app earlier this year.
TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi speaks during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on November 16, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg
In January, UMG alleged that TikTok attempted to broker a new deal with a rate that was only “a fraction of” what its social media peers paid. TikTok, in response, accused UMG of being greedy.
The new licensing pact is expected to deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, more promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs, and protections related to generative artificial intelligence (AI), according to the joint statement.
“With the constantly evolving ways that social interaction, fan engagement, music discovery and artistic ingenuity converge on TikTok, we see great potential in our collaboration going forward,” UMG chairman and chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge said.
The two parties said in their statement that they are now “working expeditiously” to return music by artists and songwriters represented by UMG to TikTok “in due course”.
TikTok users worldwide can look forward to the return of Universal Music Group’s recorded music and publishing catalogues on the hit short video app. Photo: AP
Under their new agreement, TikTok and UMG said they will work together to ensure AI development across the music industry will “protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters”.
TikTok also pledged to work with UMG to remove unauthorised AI-generated music from the platform, as well as provide tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution.
UMG previously alleged that TikTok was moving to replace artists with AI, based on the large amount of AI-generated audio clips on the platform. TikTok denied that claim, saying it was a “false narrative and rhetoric”.
TikTok has also committed to invest in new tools for artists. These include “Add to Music App”, enhanced data and analytics, and integrated ticketing capabilities to benefit artists.
People gather to express their opposition to a sell-or-ban bill against TikTok on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 22, 2023. US President Joe Biden signed that bill into law on April 24, 2024. Photo: Tribune News Service
Meanwhile, TikTok owner ByteDance last week rejected a report by US digital publication The Information, which said that it was “exploring scenarios” to sell a majority stake in TikTok’s US operations to firms outside the technology industry and without the algorithm that powers the platform. In a statement posted on its Jinri Toutiao news platform, ByteDance said that it had no plans to sell TikTok.
US President Joe Biden on April 24 enacted into law a bill that would ban TikTok in the country if its Chinese parent ByteDance fails to divest the app’s operations in America.
ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok’s US operations, rather than divest it after exhausting all legal options to fight the US government’s sell-or-ban measure, according to a Reuters report last month.
