- UMG manages the content of many stars worldwide. Negotiations between the two sides broke down last February.
- The two companies have reached a new licensing agreement after negotiations.
- The specific terms of this agreement have not been disclosed, but both parties have committed to improving compensation for artists and providing opportunities for album promotion.
UMG‘s music will be restored on TikTok from Thursday, marking the end of the conflict between the two parties.
Signing a treaty of reconciliation
Negotiations between both parties collapsed, resulting in a three-month period during which TikTok users couldn’t access music from artists under UMG, including big names like Taylor Swift, BTS, Justin Bieber, and Drake in February.
UMG argued that TikTok was expanding its business using popular music content without paying fair compensation at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, TikTok countered, accusing UMG of prioritizing their greed over the interests of the artists, leading to a dispute.
Also read: US forces TikTok to divest or face ban
Shared objective
Taylor Swift’s music made a comeback on TikTok from the 12 of last month, ahead of other artists. Despite TikTok boasting over 1 billion users, the revenue share garnered by UMG through TikTok is merely 1% of the total. Both parties have agreed to enhance compensation for artists and provide opportunities for album promotion.
Also read: EU threatens to ban TikTok Lite from using rewarded viewing feature
Furthermore, this contract aims to protect artists at the ‘industry’s highest level’, including the removal of music created by unauthorized generative artificial intelligence on TikTok and developing tools to improve attribution for artists and songwriters.
TikTok stated, “This initiative will address major issues in the music industry caused by the rapid proliferation of AI-generated content online.
