Universal Music Group Signs Deal with TikTok to Bring Back Music from Billie Eilish and Harry Styles

Music from famous artists such as Billie Eilish and Harry Styles may return to TikTok. Their music label Universal Music Group (UMG) has signed a deal with the platform after all.

In February this year, the American label removed the music of artists such as Taylor Swift, Eilish and Styles from TikTok after negotiating a new licensing agreement has failed. According to UMG, the company behind TikTok, the Chinese ByteDance, did not want to pay a fair price for the music rights. TikTok has consistently contested these allegations.

In early April, Swift’s music returned back already on the stage. That was right before her new album came out.

Major record labels have long complained that TikTok doesn’t pay a fair price for artists’ music, but removing songs is a step too far for many companies. For example, Warner Music Group and Sony Music entered into new licensing agreements with TikTok.

Record companies emphasize that the social media platform, with approximately 1.4 billion users worldwide, is an important path to success for artists.

In this explanation from NOS op 3 you can see examples of how TikTok is affecting the music industry: