Universal Music Group (UMG) has chosen to stop licensing its music library to TikTok after unproductive negotiations, dealing a serious blow to African musicians and content creators.
Effective January 31, 2024, all songs under the UMG label will no longer be accessible on the popular video-sharing platform, putting existing videos featuring UMG’s music at risk of being muted or removed.
The rift between TikTok and UMG revolves around three key issues outlined by Universal in a recent statement:
Compensation Dispute: UMG insists on fair compensation for its artists and songwriters.
AI Impact on Artists: Concerns about protecting human artists from potential harm caused by artificial intelligence (AI).
Online Safety: Ensuring the safety of TikTok’s users.
UMG accuses TikTok of not paying a fair value for its music and attempting to build a music-based business without adequately compensating artists and songwriters. TikTok denies these allegations, expressing disappointment at UMG for prioritizing greed over the interests of artists and songwriters.
The loss of access to UMG’s content library poses a significant setback for TikTok content creators, particularly fans of African artists like Stonebwoy, Youssou N’Dour, Mr Eazi, and others.
This development may limit music options on TikTok, affecting the participation in viral trends and challenges associated with UMG’s songs.
The list of African artists whose songs are expected to disappear from TikTok includes Stonebwoy (Ghana), Youssou N’Dour (Senegal), Mr Eazi (Nigeria), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Sauti Sol (Kenya), and many others, highlighting the broad impact of the compensation dispute on the digital content creation community.