The sounds of silence are now deafening on TikTok, but the artists responsible for powering their musical engines refuse to be silenced by corporate interests.
Hundreds of millions of videos are now muted on TikTok after Universal Music Group mass-removed their songs from the app in the wake of a hostile licensing dispute. The controversy has gripped both the creator economy and the music industry at large, and artists are now responding en masse as they battle the fallout.
Electronic music superstar Alison Wonderland lamented the news in a heartfelt video message, condemning UMG for their hypocrisy after pressuring her to create TikTok videos to promote an album before silencing her music.
“On the last album you were trying to make me make TikToks to promote my new songs with my new music, and now I can't. No music is up there,” he said. “I don't understand you. This is an incredibly toxic relationship that I need to get out of and I think a lot of us need to get out.”
“I hope you find a loophole and abandon ship,” Deorro said in response. “No artist deserves that.”
MNEK also criticized the UMG's decision, calling it “silly” and “greedy.” The chart-topping producer and vocalist is perhaps best known for 2020's “Head & Heart,” a global dance hit he released in collaboration with Joel Corry.
“like an artist who used to sign with Universal Music Group – irdk [sic] “How do you think this whole TikTok boycott will work… in 2024???” MNEK said. “After all this time of bullying their artists into becoming influencers, they decide to do this?
Responding to MNEK, acclaimed singer-songwriter Lily Allen suggested a class-action lawsuit for artists to reclaim the rights to their work following its eradication from TikTok, which many consider the most powerful music discovery platform in the world. A recent study found that one in four people discover music on the app, which is expected to reach two billion users by the end of 2024.
Wonderland and MNEK's comments mirror those made by prolific hip-hop producer Metro Boomin, who lamented TikTok's tendency to make songs viral one day and forgotten the next.
“I love the creativity and appreciation kids show for music on TikTok, but I don't like the forced pandering from artists and labels that results in these lifeless, soulless records,” Boomin said.
UMG, the world's largest music company, said negotiations with TikTok collapsed after they urged the social media giant to address “three critical issues: adequate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from “the harmful effects of AI and online safety for TikTok Users.”
UMG also claimed that TikTok “tried to bully” them into accepting a proposed settlement that would have paid their artists “a fraction” of the amount paid by other social media platforms, adding that the app accounts for about 1% of their revenue. totals. The existing agreement between the two organizations expired on January 31, leading to the removal of songs by Taylor Swift, Drake, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo and many more contemporary music superstars.
TikTok, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, criticized UMG's “false narrative and rhetoric” and accused them of putting “their own greed before the interests of their artists and songwriters.”
Read UMG's latest statement below, according to Billboard.
“Our agreements with TikTok have expired due to TikTok's unwillingness to adequately compensate artists and songwriters, protect human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and address online safety issues for TikTok users ( more about that here).
In fact, TikTok's own statement perfectly sums up its woefully outdated vision: Although TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) has built one of the world's largest and most valuable social media platforms at the expense of artists and songwriters, TikTok still maintains that Artists should be grateful for 'free promotion' and that music companies are 'greedy' to be expected to simply compensate artists and songwriters appropriately, and at levels similar to what other social media platforms currently do.
TikTok didn't even attempt to address the other issues we raised regarding harmful AI and platform security. “It's no surprise that artists' rights advocates are speaking out in support of our action.”
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