(NewsNation) — TikTok users can say goodbye to songs from Taylor Swift, Drake, Adele, SZA and other top artists after a dispute with the social media platform over pay.
TikTok maintains a music library that allows users to add snippets of songs to videos, often driving trends linked to song lyrics. But Universal Music Group has now pulled its catalog, saying TikTok has refused to pay an adequate amount for songs.
In a statement, UMG said, “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 company said TikTok only accounted for 1% of its revenue despite the social media company’s increasing earnings and reliance on music to promote content creation.
UMG also accused TikTok of allowing AI-generated music to flood the platform and encouraging AI-generated music in a move it called “sponsoring artist replacement by AI.”
Further, UMG said that TikTok failed to adequately respond to copyright problems or other standards violations, including refusing to adequately address other problematic content, such as deepfakes featuring artists.
TikTok responded by saying UMG was putting its greed above the needs of artists and saying it was a promotional and discovery tool for musicians.
The social media company did not respond to the specific complaints raised by UMG but did call the company out for “self-serving” actions that it said were not in the best interests of artists or fans.
