UMG will not renew its contract with TikTok, claiming that the platform would not adequately address issues such as artist compensation, user safety, and the increasing prevalence of AI-generated music

UMG will not renew its contract with TikTok, claiming that the platform would not adequately address issues such as artist compensation, user safety, and the increasing prevalence of AI-generated music

Universal Music Group (UMG) plans to sever ties with TikTok, the label and publishing company announced Tuesday (January 30) in an open letter addressed to the “artist and songwriter community.” UMG revealed that, as of today, its negotiations for a new contract with TikTok have ended without an agreement, and that the expiring contract will not be renewed. That means that, if a new contract is not agreed upon today, music by artists including Taylor Swift, Drake, and Bad Bunny will not be available for use in videos on the social media platform.

In its statement, UMG claimed that it will cease licensing content to TikTok due to conflicting approaches to critical industry issues, specifically, how the platform plans to address artist compensation, TikTok user safety, and the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI). UMG alleges that TikTok proposed paying its artists “a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” and that the service “has offered no meaningful solutions” to content issues like bullying, bigotry, and harassment, including pornographic deepfakes of artists. Find UMG’s full letter below.

  • heyitsmikey128@lemmy.world
    27·
    11 months ago

    The content on tiktok has moved far away from the music and dancing app it once was. That’s probably why tiktok was indifferent to this deal.

    • BobVersionFour@kbin.social
      294·
      11 months ago

      Make sense i mean the only goal of tiktok is china data collection and propaganda so as long as people use it they won’t care if it become only cooking video or kid eating grass

      • Jako301@feddit.de
        721·
        11 months ago

        the only goal of tiktok is china data collection and propaganda

        Data collection yes, propaganda no.

        Tiktok doesn’t exist in China so pro chinese propaganda for their own citizens isn’t possible. For everyone else the algorithm will push what you interact with. Looked at the cat video half a second longer? The rest of your home feed will be cat videos.

        Yes it is biasd towards propaganda due to its polarising nature that creates engagement, but it doesn’t push a specific type. It can be left or right wing and pro or contra China/USA, depending on your engagement.

        I still wouldn’t recommend the app. The sheer amount of time it tries to phone home is scary (but Google play services is even worse in that regard) and the echo chamber it creates as well as the doom scrolling it pushes will slowly destroy your mental wellbeing. But what i cam recommend is fiddling around with the algorithm in a containerised environment.

        • poke@sh.itjust.works
          14·
          11 months ago

          You can’t possibly know for sure that they aren’t pushing/biased towards specific types of content that may sway opinions on purpose. They can absolutely push propaganda to non-Chinese populations. It doesn’t have to be blatant, it’s best for them if it’s not.

        • Sl00kEnglish
          3·
          11 months ago

          China has their own version called Douyin which is really just a clone managed in China instead.

  • fixerdude2@lemmy.ca
    14·
    11 months ago

    The clock app is funded by the CCP. This is not going to matter. The intimidation and indifference will continue.

  • LostWon@lemmy.ca
    81·
    11 months ago

    Looks like “clock app” (as many call it) is shifting into the final stage of its enshittification process, if even business partnerships are being blown off. No doubt many on here will be reflexively happy about that but it’s really just sad to me every time I see potential wasted in any form.

    • pulaskiwasright@lemmy.mlEnglish
      624·
      11 months ago

      TikTok is getting better. Not worse. It used to only be people lazy dancing to music half naked, and for sex workers to self-promote. Now it’s moving towards longer form and more thoughtful content. It’s not 100% there and it likely never will be, but it’s improving. It’s not getting worse.

      • LostWon@lemmy.ca
        10·
        11 months ago

        So the algorithm has calibrated your feed to your personal preferences, just as it does for everyone else. Good for you.

        Meanwhile for anyone wondering,

        • regular creators are having all kinds of problems with everything from changes to misleading and unfavourable monetization schemes to managing comments on their vids,

        • political creators aren’t only having their content ignored when they meet thresholds that would propel non-political vids to be promoted (with often the very same person’s record of political and non-political vids that are more commercially viable showing this difference), they’re being silenced with strikes for “unoriginal content,”

        • users presumably who use the phone app (which I don’t, lol) are complaining of increasing ads,

        • and everyone who tries to speak out against hate speech/bullying/harassment/trolls somehow gets punished for defending themselves.

          What a fun environment! So not a hot mess at all /s

    • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
      21·
      11 months ago

      By shuttered you mean fired all the journalists doing work. There’s no way someone is going to let a popular domain like that not be utilized when it’s owned by investment firms. It’s being folded into GQ – the quintessential mens rag.