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The copyright dispute between TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) continues. Because of this fight, TikTok’s music catalog continues to shrink. UMG has recently pulled numerous songs from TikTok that it owns or distributes, including tracks by superstars like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd. This now also affects songs published by UMG and means millions more tracks will be removed from TikTok by the end of the week.
According to Variety, the latest twist in this fight affects the work of artists who partner with songwriters under contract with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). Due to what is called copyright splitting, if a writer under contract with UMPG contributes to a song in any way, that track may have to be removed from TikTok.
Therefore, songs by artists who collaborate with names such as Swift, Adele, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Ice Spice, Elton John, Harry Styles and SZA may also be removed from TikTok. The sounds of videos that already use these songs may be muted, and more importantly, these artists may be deprived of the opportunity to promote their new songs on TikTok.
TikTok lost 3 million songs from Universal Music Group
UMG removed nearly three million songs from TikTok after the agreement on its song catalog expired. The deal between Universal Music Group and TikTok for the streaming catalog (which includes nearly four million songs) will expire this weekend.