Universal Music and Spotify Announce Vague ‘Expansion of Strategic Relationship’ That Probably Signals a Unified Effort Against TikTok

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Universal Music Group and Spotify — the world’s largest music company and the world’s largest paid music-subscription service — have unveiled an expansion of their “strategic relationship” in an announcement that has very few details but is likely the opening of a new maneuver in UMG’s ongoing battle with TikTok.

UMG and the China-based platform, which has been the leading source of music discovery for the past five years, have been in a standoff over multiple issues, primarily the platform’s low royalty payments and AI policies, since their licensing agreement expired earlier this year.

Most artists under recording or publishing contracts with Universal have seen their music muted on TikTok, depriving many of them of their primary means of music promotion, a situation that a led a substantialnumber of them to voice frustration.

Specifically, the new initiatives include UMG artists being able to share short pre-release teasers and pre-save opportunities on Spotify, and the ability to host music videos in the U.S. (Spotify launched a video program in beta in 11 overseas countries earlier this month) — all options that are widely available from most major artists’ social media accounts.