Last Tuesday, the 30th, an open letter was published on the official website of the Universal Music Group (UMG) record label informing artists and composers about UMG's current contractual relationship with the short video platform TikTok. The contract expired on January 31st and, according to the label, negotiations for renewal were underway, but did not meet what was proposed and what they consider fair for their artists.
In the released letter, UMG states that, during contract renewal talks, they pressed TikTok executives on three critical issues: “adequate compensation for artists and composers, protection of human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok users.” According to the record label, these issues were ignored, even treated with indifference and, subsequently, with intimidation.
According to Universal, “TikTok’s tactics are obvious: to use the power of its platform to harm vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into accepting a bad deal that undervalues music and deceives artists and songwriters, as well as their fans.”.
In February 2021, the last agreement between UMG and TikTok was made, according to Reuters . This agreement allowed major pop artists, such as Taylor Swift , Justin Bieber , and Rihanna , to have their music featured in videos on the platform. In addition to these, important names in rock also make up the label's catalog, such as Pearl Jam , Metallica , Queen, The Rolling Stones, The Offspring , and Aerosmith , which sold its catalog to Universal in August 2021.
The company responsible for the short-video platform also responded in a statement on its official website , claiming that Universal put "its own interests above the interests of its artists and composers." They added that "TikTok has managed to reach 'artist-first' agreements with all other record labels and publishers. Clearly, Universal's selfish actions do not serve the best interests of artists, composers, and fans."
It's important to highlight that artists and groups, such as Metallica, already have songs with viral videos on the platform. "Master of Puppets" from 1986, for example, became a sensation after the release of the 4th season of the Netflix series Stranger Things in 2022 and today has approximately 250,000 videos using the song as a soundtrack. Queen even surpasses that number, with over 375,000 videos using the song "Another One Bites the Dust" from 1980.
It is a fact that different filters and videos using the voices and faces of artists, through AI technologies, have already been released on TikTok, bringing up the problem of deepfakes that UMG mentions in its published letter. Furthermore, the platform does not demonstrate strong control regarding the modification of original music in videos. Regarding the agreement, UMG concludes the letter by saying: “But we have a primary responsibility to our artists to fight for a new agreement in which they are adequately compensated for their work, on a platform that respects human creativity, in an environment that is safe for everyone and effectively moderated.” It remains to be seen whether there will be a new agreement between the companies.
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