TikTok Begins Removing Universal Music Publishing Songs, Expanding Royalty Battle
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The bruising battle over royalties between Universal Music Group and TikTok entered a new and more severe stage in the early hours of Tuesday as songs published by UMG began to be removed from the platform.
The standoff, which began earlier this month, initially saw recordings owned by UMG removed from the platform, but now is extending to a much larger number of songs by including those published by the company.
The situation, accompanied by a bellicose war of words from both sides, pits UMG — the world’s largest music company — against TikTok — the most influential platform for promoting music for the past five years — as they continue to fail to renew their licensing agreement, which expires on Jan.
31. The reach of this latest move is severe, as it effects a vast number of recordings not issued by a UMG-owned label, and many artists who have collaborated with songwriters under contract to Universal Music Publishing Group.
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