“Greed” vs “fair value”: dispute between Universal and TikTok increases with the withdrawal of more songs – Music

The outcome of the negotiations could have an important repercussion on the sector, as two of the most powerful players in the music and technology industries vie for power in a scenario of uncertainty surrounding the use of AI.

At the beginning of February, songs by Taylor Swift, BTS and Drake were removed from TikTok, after talks with Universal about renewing their rights agreement, which expired on January 31, stopped. This week, the platform began to remove music from all artists linked to Universal’s vast editorial catalogue, as required by the multinational. All songs written by Universal Music Publishing Group songwriters have been removed.

TikTok said it remains “committed to reaching an equitable agreement” with the music giant. “Their actions not only affect the songwriters and artists they represent, but also many artists and songwriters who are not signed to Universal.”

“Fair value”

Universal counterattacked on Friday in a statement open to its songwriters, in which it pointed out that TikTok “did not agree to recognize the fair value” of its music. In addition to royalties, the platform “denies responding to our concerns about A.I. depriving songwriters of fair compensation, or ensuring that they do not train their AI models on their music,” the publisher stated.

Owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok is one of the most popular social networks in the world. It’s an important platform for emerging artists, and publishers use it as a promotional tool.

TikTok had accused Universal of putting “greed” above the interests of artists, while Universal alleged that TikTok “tries to build a business based on music without paying a fair price” for it.