"This is like an earthquake for the industry": Internet reacts as UMG threatens to remove song catalog from TikTok over music rights fees

Universal Music Group (UMG), threatened to pull its entire music catalog from TikTok after failed contract negotiations on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. UMG's contract with TikTok expires on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. In an open letter, the world's largest record label accused TikTok of intimidation tactics, promotion of AI-generated recordings, and low artist and songwriter compensation.

UMG represents a majority of artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, and more. Thus, the open letter caused a significant wave of online concern. Netizens were not fans of UMG's decision and were anxious about TikTok's future, with many commenting on X even as one person said:

Netizens were stunned by UMG's decision (Image via X/@PopBase)

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Netizens label UMG pulling their catalogs as the "worst decision ever"

Universal threatened to pull their music from TikTok (Image via X)

Following UMG's threats thousands of fans took to X to call it the "worst decision ever". People claimed that the label was trying to take off artist's catalogs from one of the best platforms to promote their music. Some even claimed that the label was accusing the short video-sharing platform of the same thing they were doing.

While many netizens claimed that TikTok helps songs go viral, others said that the decision didn't make sense.

Netizens criticized the label's decision (Image via X)

Netizens criticized the label's decision (Image via X)

Netizens criticized the label's decision (Image via X)

Netizens criticized the label's decision (Image via X)

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The UMG vs TikTok saga

UMG published a scathing open letter on Tuesday, explaining the breakdown of contract negotiations with TikTok. In the letter, the company vehemently critiqued the social media platform for various reasons. The contract between the two companies expires on Wednesday, and the label was reportedly pressing TikTok on three main issues. They include appropriate artist and songwriter compensation, protection of artists from AI, and user safety.

The letter remarked that TikTok has an already huge but growing user base, advertising revenue, and reliance on music. Despite that, the social media platform only accounted for around 1% of Universal Music's total revenue. The letter criticized:

"With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay."

The letter criticized the platform for promoting, developing tools for, and flooding the platform with AI-generated recordings and then allegedly demanding a contractual right that would dilute the human artist royalty pool. Universal accused the platform of "sponsoring artist replacement by AI".

UMG also pointed out the massive amount of content on the platform that infringes on artists' music and the lack of solutions for content adjacency issues. The letter talked about harassment, hate speech, bullying, and bigotry on the platform. It went on to talk about the platform's cumbersome and inefficient process of removing problematic and infringing content like "p*rnographic deep fakes of artists".

When asked to take steps to tackle these issues like other partner platforms, Universal Music accused TikTok of "indifference" and "intimidation". The letter accused TikTok of trying to hurt vulnerable artists and intimidating Universal into a "bad deal".

"TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth." The letter detailed.

It continued:

"How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars."

The letter concluded by recognizing the impact of TikTok's alleged actions. It went on to discuss what it meant for artists and fans affected by the platform's reluctance to strike a deal that was "anything close to a market rate" and addressing its "obligations as a social platform".

TikTok also released a response to Universal's threatening letter on Tuesday night. The platform accused the label of putting their greed above artist and songwriter interests. The statement read:

"Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent."

The platform also revealed that it had been able to reach "artist-first agreements" with every other label and further accused Universal of taking "self-serving actions".