SAN JOSE, United States: Music by artistes such as Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga could disappear from the video app TikTok from tomorrow (February 1), reported German news agency (dpa).
The world's largest music company Universal Music announced yesterday (January 30) that it had been unable to agree on an extension for the licence agreement, which expires today (January 31).
In an open letter, Universal Music argued that TikTok was "trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music" and accused TikTok of "bullying" them into taking a deal "far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth."
TikTok also allows music created with the help of artificial intelligence onto the platform – and wants contractual freedom to do so. Universal Music accused TikTok of "sponsoring artist replacement by AI."
Universal Music also criticised TikTok for what it considered taking little action against piracy and for having an inefficient process for removing problematic content such as fake pornographic images of artists.
TikTok did not initially respond to the allegations.
The withdrawal of Universal Music could be a significant blow for TikTok as many videos on the platform have music and the company has many of the world's most popular musicians under contract.
Universal Music acknowledged that the move would have consequences for its own musicians. However, the company has a responsibility to fight for fair conditions for them.
TikTok has more than one billion users. The service belongs to the Bytedance Group, which is based in China. — Bernama