The video-sharing platform is at the center of a dispute with Universal Music Group that has led to the removal of a considerable number of songs on TikTok. It all started with the expiration of an agreement between the two parties on the copyrights of the music recordings. Universal Music Group has therefore decided to withdraw the recordings of world-famous artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd from the platform.
Now, a further step has been taken, asking TikTok to also remove all songs published by UMG regardless of who wrote or performed them. This means that millions of songs, including many collaborations with UMPG artists, are disappearing from the platform.
Why is UMG doing this? The company argues that TikTok isn’t paying enough for song royalties. The platform, for its part, said it was willing to negotiate a new deal but accused UMG of using aggressive pressure tactics. The removal of millions of songs from TikTok is a major blow to the platform, which finds itself deprived of a significant portion of its music content. In addition, many artists are missing out on the opportunity to promote their music on a platform that has over a billion active users.
It is unclear how the dispute between TikTok and UMG will be resolved. The two parties are still in negotiations, but no agreement has been reached at the moment and in the meantime, TikTok users will have to do without many of their favorite songs.
This is not the only problem that the short video platform is facing in this period, in fact, to complicate everything there is also the investigation opened by the European Union. The accusation is of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European law that protects the rights of online users, in particular with regard to transparency and the protection of minors.