Why has TikTok gone silent?

The sound of silence

On Thursday, the TikTok community woke up to a surprising silence. Millions of videos featuring popular songs from music icons like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Drake, and Ariana Grande were muted. This was the result of a high-profile dispute between TikTok and Universal Music Group (Universal), the world’s largest music company.

The event has sent shockwaves through the social media world and the music industry. Universal’s decision to pull its entire music catalog from the social media platform will have a significant ripple effect on content creators, brands, the cultural conversation, and the music industry. 

 

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We’ll explain everything you need to know about Universal’s departure from TikTok and how creators and brands can act quickly to protect their content and revenue streams on TikTok. 

Who is Universal Music?

Universal Music Group is the world’s biggest music company. It’s made up of a number of businesses in the fields of recording, publishing, merchandising, and other activities associated with the music industry. The company has several big-name artists across multiple genres, countries, and demographics, like Taylor Swift, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Elton John, U2, and many more. With so many famous names on their roster, it’s easy to see why Universal’s decision to leave TikTok would significantly impact the platform and its users. 

Why did Universal Music remove its music from TikTok?

Universal’s decision to remove their music from TikTok came at the end of a series of failed negotiations between the two companies. However, these failed negotiations represent a more significant conflict between artists and media companies that have played out over the past few years.

Tensions rose further with social media platforms like TikTok wanting to give users as much access to music and other creative tools as possible while keeping costs down like any business would. On the other hand, the objective of music companies is to represent their artists and ensure they’re fairly compensated for their work through credits and royalties. 

New technologies like AI have further exacerbated this tension in recent years. There is a legal grey area where people can ask an AI tool to create a “new” song that sounds similar to a famous copyrighted version. Several music businesses have leveled claims at TikTok and other media companies, claiming they’re not doing enough to protect their artists against AI-generated music. 

Universal Music penned an open letter on why they must call time on TikTok, stating, “Our agreements with TikTok have expired because of TikTok’s unwillingness to appropriately compensate artists and songwriters, protect human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and address online safety issues for TikTok’s users“. 

TikTok published a reply within hours: “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters. 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. TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters, and fans.“

Where these two will go from here is unknown; however, given the heated and very public exchange, things will probably need to simmer down before they can reach an agreement. 

Who will be impacted by the split?

Universal’s decision to remove its music from TikTok will impact creators, brands, and musicians. Creators and brands with existing TikTok videos that already contain music from Universal will need to act fast or risk getting their content buried by the algorithm. This will be especially urgent for any videos that creators are monetizing since revenue is dependent on views and engagement. As a platform, TikTok favors content with sound. So if your video has been muted, the best thing to do is replace the music with an available sound, or consider creating a new one altogether.  

There is a Universal-sized hole in the TikTok music catalog for creators and brands that are looking to upload new content. However, this transition moment could positively impact creators, giving them an even greater opportunity to step out of the charts and find fresh music for their content. One solution for creators could be exploring Artlist’s music catalog. Rather than using the same music as everyone else on the platform, creators can take the opportunity to stand out with high-quality music made by real artists. Creators can explore the specially curated TikTok collection, or search the library for music and sound effects and filter by mood, video theme, genre, instrument, and more to find the perfect track. 

The impact on musicians is largely split when it comes to famous musicians and emerging artists. Even some of the world’s biggest stars on Universal’s roster may feel the impact of being excluded from the platform. In recent years, TikTok has become a significant promotional outlet for music, has driven trends, and has even caused some musicians to see a return of their old songs to the Top 40 charts. Many fans, especially young fans, rely on the platform to discover music. And emerging musicians have an enormous opportunity to get discovered on the platform and grow their following.

But for now, at least, it seems that Universal is steadfast in their resolve that they’ve made a bold move with the best interests of their artists in mind

How can Artlist help?

Whether you’re creating new content for TikTok or need to update the music on an older video, Artlist’s content library has a vast selection of high-quality royalty-free music, sound effects, footage, and more to help you stand out on TikTok. 

Another advantage of using Artlist assets is the simple license, which grants unlimited access to all the assets you need under one subscription. You can download Artlist music for your projects, including TikTok videos, and you’ll never have to worry about the music being removed from your video. We take care of all the legal aspects, so you don’t have to worry about messy topics like copyright or public disputes between music companies and social media giants. 

Searching for music from lesser-known artists might seem intimidating, especially for brands and creators under pressure to publish content in real-time while a trend is still relevant. A combination of data, experience, and professional intuition backs everything Artlist produces. It’s vital for our users that we publish the music they need for their content. The content team at Artlist constantly analyses data and forecasts trends in order to understand and deliver the assets that today’s content creators need. 

Learn more about Artlist Original music.

Wrapping up

What happens next in this conflict between two of the largest players in the media business is anyone’s guess. Perhaps big-name artists can wield some influence. Maybe we’ll see some unprecedented reform in the industry. But as a creator, brand, or musician, you shouldn’t sit by and wait to find out. Take action and update your TikTok content with royalty-free music like Artlist’s offering to stay ahead of the competition, engage your audience, and achieve your goals. Explore the Artlist catalog today.