Taylor Swift’s music returns to TikTok after being removed by Universal Music Group

nme.com:

Taylor Swift’s music has returned to TikTok, after her label Universal withdrew all of their artists from the platform earlier this year.In January, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced that it would withdraw its artists’ songs from the platform, citing unfair compensation for the artists and the harmful effects of AI.But now, as reported by Variety, Swift’s catalogue has returned to the site, which may be a consequence of the fact that the singer now owns the masters to her recordings.Other artists signed to the label continue to be absent from TikTok, including Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Adele, Coldplay, J Balvin, Post Malone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.The timing is opportune, as Swift’s latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is released next Friday (April 19).At the time, UMG explained that its licensing agreement with TikTok expired on January 31, and that negotiations to renew the contract had fallen short.“In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing [TikTok] on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay”, which it says accounts for one per cent of its revenue. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG wrote.They went on to claim that TikTok “encourages AI music creation on the platform itself” by developing tools to support the cause while “demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the.