Swift and Eilish Suddenly Disappear from TikTok... The Reason Is 'Money'

TikTok-Universal Music Negotiations Fail
Background Music Muted in Previously Uploaded Videos

Music by popular pop stars such as Taylor Swift has disappeared from the video-sharing platform TikTok. On the 1st (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that TikTok has begun suspending services for some artists due to a breakdown in license negotiations with Universal Music Group, the world's largest music content company.

TikTok initially took a preemptive measure by muting only the music of artists under Universal Music instead of deleting the videos uploaded by users.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

As a preliminary measure, TikTok chose to mute only the music of artists under Universal Music instead of deleting the videos uploaded by users. TikTok also inserted the phrase "Sound removed due to copyright issues" on the videos. However, TikTok did not disclose the number of muted videos. It is estimated that billions of TikTok videos contain music from Universal Music artists. Among them, some artists under Universal Music have not yet had their music muted.

Previously, Universal Music Group had stated that if the license contract renewal negotiations failed, it would prohibit the use of its artists' works on TikTok. Universal Music Group manages content from global pop music stars including Swift, Billie Eilish, SZA, and Olivia Rodrigo.

The cause of the failed contract renewal negotiations lies in the disagreement over content usage fees. Universal Music Group claimed, "TikTok is trying to expand its business using pop music content but refuses to pay a fair price," adding, "TikTok offered only a fraction of the fees that other social media platforms pay." On the other hand, TikTok countered by saying, "Universal Music Group is putting its greed ahead of the artists' interests," and the gap between the two sides remains difficult to bridge. It is unclear whether Universal Music Group and TikTok have engaged in further negotiations.

Universal Music manages the content of global pop music stars including Swift, Billie Eilish, SZA, and Olivia Rodrigo.
[Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

The music industry views Universal Music Group's 'TikTok withdrawal' as a declaration of war against one of the world's most influential online media platforms, but some opinions suggest its impact may be limited. TikTok has licensing agreements with various music companies besides Universal Music Group and employs a strategy of discovering old songs as memes in addition to the latest trending songs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.