TikTok and Universal have made peace: the music of Drake, Taylor Swift and other artists returns to social networks

After months of tension, TIK Tak And Universal music group (UMG) signed peace. The social network and record label have announced a new “multi-dimensional” licensing agreement that will allow songs from Taylor Swift, drake, Olivia Rodrigo And Ariana Grandeamong many others, go back to the Videos app.

Under this partnership, TikTok will pay artists better and offer them more tools to capitalize on the popularity of their music. ByteDance aims to provide them with optimized access to data and usage statistics for their songs, as well as integrate the ability to sell tickets to their concerts directly from the platform.

But the story doesn’t end there. TikTok will also partner with Universal Music Group to stop the distribution of unauthorized songs created using artificial intelligence. This will be complemented by new efforts to ensure correct attribution of authors and performers working with the record label.

Both companies expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached to bring the music of today’s most popular artists and many rising talents back to the key social network to engage with young audiences. Let’s not forget that TikTok today has over 1.5 billion users worldwide.

“Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem, and we are pleased to have found a way to continue our partnership with Universal Music Group,” he said. Tzu Chu Show, CEO of TikTok. In its turn, Lucian GrangePresident and CEO of UMG, said: “This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human art and the well-being of the creative community.”

TikTok restores music from UMG artists

The conflict between TikTok and Universal Music erupted at the end of January. Then the record company issued an open letter threatening to remove the songs of its artists from the social network. The company accused the Chinese company of Performers and composers are underpaidand refuse to sign a new agreement that would guarantee them fairer compensation.

In early February, when the relationship between both companies had already expired, UMG removed its label catalog from TikTok. Thus, the music of Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and others disappeared from the video application. Meanwhile, a few weeks later, he did the same with artists who worked with the composer represented by Universal Music Publishing Group. This resulted in Metallica, Adele, Justin Bieber and Harry Styles’ content also no longer being available on the platform unless they published their albums through Universal.

In the midst of this conflict, Taylor Swift’s songs resurfaced on TikTok in April. However, there is speculation that this could be due to a special agreement between the singer and the record company. Although it was never clear whether this was a partial decision for the purpose of releasing his final album or something final.

The truth is that since the new link is already signed, TikTok and UMG made peace and returned to normal life. Of course, it is not yet known how much royalty payments under the official contract will increase compared to the previous one. It is also not specified how the system for destroying songs created with the help of AI will work.