Taylor Swift, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, and other UMG songs to be removed from TikTok

The fastest-rising social media platform, TikTok is caught in an online war of words with the biggest record label, Universal Music Group. This was ignited because of an impasse in their negotiations for an extension of their contract that was set to expire on January 31, 2024. In an open letter posted by Universal Music Group, there are 3 salient points that UMG claims to have been a point of friction between the two companies. First is the compensation to their artists which they claim to be below the amount offered by similar platforms. Second, the harmful effects of AI-generated recordings and the lack of safeguards put into place by TikTok for human artists. Last is the online safety concern for TikTok users as UMG claims that there are no efforts from TikTok to curb the prevalence of "hate speech, bigotry, bullying, and harassment on the platform." This is one of UMG’s efforts to uplift the rights of their artists.

With this, Universal Music Group’s library will no longer be available on TikTok. Full statement of UMG Here: An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community - Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok - UMG (universalmusic.com)