Have you ever been doom-scrolling on TikTok and heard a song clip you absolutely loved? For many, this is an extremely common experience. Social media, like TikTok, have offered every artist an opportunity to market their music to a much larger audience without the backing of major labels. This has been a game-changer for independent artists as this is a new tool to add to their belt in terms of marketing. Artists like Conan Gray and Ice Spice have been able to grow massive followings after their music blew up on TikTok and they were signed to major label, Universal Music Group (UMG).
Around Jan. 31, 2024, it was reported that UMG would be removing their large catalog of artists from TikTok starting on Feb. 1. Billboard reported the removal was due to TikTok’s unfair compensation of music artists on the app, all while being dependent on those same artists for the app’s success. When news broke, many users were already noticing that some of their most popular videos were now muted on their page, leaving many upset. Creators’ work was being silenced and had directly impacted their brands and content style. The editing community was brought up as these are people who worked hard to create original content based on their interests that had been, without real warning, muted.
A big example of this removal was an edit of Pedro Pascal, which is now unable to be reposted due to containing “Hey Sexy Lady” by Shaggy, who is represented by UMG. Other content creators are now struggling as they have built a brand based on these artists and now are unsure how to continue their content going forward. Mikael Arellano, creator of the viral “Bejeweled” Dance, has found a new way of creating Taylor Swift content by singing the audio for the videos to a mostly positive reception. As of writing this, his rendition of “Bejeweled” has over 9.4 million views and 700 videos underneath his original audio, even some put his voice on Taylor Swift performing. Others, though, were not as excited to find other methods of creating content. Others simply found it easier to take to the app to complain about how idiotic they looked with the videos muted or dancing to the royalty-free music.
Creators are not the only ones taking a hit by the removal. The artists themselves could see major ramifications as well. Popular folk-indie artist Noah Kahan, whose album Stick Season has produced several trends on the platform, talked on his account, showing his sarcasm about how he uses TikTok primarily to market and views himself as a “TikTok artist.” The only audio that remains is a voice memo of one of his new songs, “Forever,” which is set to come out on Feb. 9, but all other audios no longer remain. Other creatives like Kara Canalla, who is a choreographer, have been paid by UMG to create TikTok dances for their artists for almost four years. She feels as though she has now lost a part of her income but is hopeful for what this means for music to take a shift from mainstream artists like Drake.
There seems to be a more common census of excitement for the rise of independent artists on the app to take over. Removing such a large category of artists has placed a dent in the audio available to creators, and indie artists can wedge themselves into the mainstream. According to Business Insider, “67% of the app’s users are more likely to seek out songs on music-streaming services after hearing them on TikTok,” often leading to the songs appearing on Spotify’s Top Songs or the Billboard charts. If smaller artists take advantage of this, they can improve their stream rates and have some critical success.
Many indie artists who have been releasing music for a while have seen improvement in their streams. An example is “Body Horror” by eilonwy, that released in 2023 and is one of my personal favorite additions to my playlists. The song has amassed over 100,000 streams. “Body Horror” is not a completely new song, but eilonwy uses her production skills to make this interesting sound. Because she capitalized on TikTok early in release, she was able to get interviews and discussions of her music in high regard. She realized and utilized the power of social media marketing to benefit her and saw success.
This removal of a vast collection of loved music and artists was rushed, and if given a better transition timeline, I believe there would be less outrage on social media. UMG has chosen to be as quick as possible with removing the content and has not allowed creators and their own artists to find new ways of creating art and promoting their art. Because of the negativity surrounding it, the positives for indie artists are being widely overshadowed. In given time, many would have been more open to this change. Hopefully, TikTok can figure out a way to properly pay artists for streams on their platform so that UMG artists can come back to TikTok. In the near future though, that is not looking like it will be soon, and this could be a permanent change.
Sources:
Works Cited
Arellano, Mikael. “TikTok – Make Your Day.” Www.tiktok.com, 1 Feb. 2024, www.tiktok.com/@mikaelarellano/video/7330708030205644078. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
Canalla, Kara. “TikTok – Make Your Day.” Www.tiktok.com, 3 Feb. 2024, www.tiktok.com/@karaleighcannella/video/7331102028413816107?lang=en. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
Kahan, Noah. “TikTok – Make Your Day.” Www.tiktok.com, 1 Feb. 2024, www.tiktok.com/@noahkahanmusic/video/7330441751506799914?lang=en. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
Robinson, Kristin. “UMG’s TikTok Licensing Feud: Music Industry Reactions (Updating).” Billboard, 2 Feb. 2024, www.billboard.com/business/business-news/universal-music-tiktok-licensing-fight-music-industry-reactions-1235596904/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
Whateley, Dan. “How TikTok Is Changing the Music Industry and the Way We Discover New, Popular Songs.” Business Insider, 23 Aug. 2023, www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-is-changing-music-industry#:~:text=Songs%20that%20trend%20on%20TikTok.