Rejoice! Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are returning to TikTok as music spat ends
About time.
Your favourite artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Drake will soon be returning to TikTok after the social media platform ended its spat with Universal.
In January it was revealed two companies had been unable to agree a new deal that would allow TikTok users to add music by Universal’s artists to their videos.
Speaking at the time, Universal accused TikTok of ‘bullying’ over its licence fees, arguing the platform was trying to pay a much lower rate for its entire back catalogue than its rivals.
In a spicy response, TikTok accused Universal of ‘putting their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters’.
The two also clashed over the use of artificial intelligence to reproduce the sounds of its artists.
The contract expired at midnight on Wednesday, January 31, and the following day the great purge began. Suddenly, popular artists from The Beatles to Bad Bunny were no longer available.
Now however, the two giants have come to an agreement, and artists such as Lana del Ray, The Weeknd and Ariana Grande will return.
In a statement, Universal Music Group (UMG) chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said: ‘This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community.’
TikTok CEO Shou Chew added: ‘Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group.
‘We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery and promotion for all of UMG’s amazing artists and songwriters, and deepen their ability to grow, connect and engage with the TikTok community.’
The thorny issue of AI on the platform was also addressed, with TikTok saying it is ‘committed to working with UMG to remove unauthorised AI-generated music’ – but not ruling it out entirely.
Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music business development, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome UMG and UMPG back to TikTok. We look forward to working together to forge a path that creates deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans.
‘In particular, we will work together to make sure that AI tools are developed responsibly to enable a new era of musical creativity and fan engagement while protecting human creativity.’
Returning real artists to the platform will not happen immediately however. The statement concluded: ‘UMG and TikTok are now working expeditiously to return music by artists represented by Universal Music Group and songwriters represented by Universal Music Publishing Group to TikTok in due course.’