TikTok pulls Taylor Swift and The Weeknd's music

The label and TikTok's license arrangement ended on Wednesday, and a new agreement could not be negotiated.

According to UMG, TikTok requested payment for song access at a "fraction" of the price other social media platforms charge.

UMG was charged of presenting a "false narrative and rhetoric" by TikTok.

All videos featuring UMG music will be muted, and those tracks will no longer be available for use in newly created videos.

Additionally inaccessible is Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder on the Dancefloor, a smash song that went viral after being featured in the movie Saltburn.

You can still use unofficial versions of songs that have been sped up or slowed down.

Stick Season, Noah Kahan's hit song, began as a TikTok video that went viral. He just uploaded a video to his account stating that he was unable to promote his new song on the platform.

"I can't stick it down your throats any more on this app," he replied.

"I think I'll be alright, right? I'm going to land upright, right?"

When songs are streamed on streaming services and social media, music companies and artists get paid royalties.

They serve as the background music for videos that users upload to TikTok.

However, there has long been concern about the meager compensation offered by the platforms, which in this instance led to a significant and highly visible dispute.

Although UMG and TikTok were in negotiations to reach a new agreement, they were unable to do so before the deadline of January 31.

Universal asserted in an open letter dated January 30 that "TikTok is ultimately trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music."

Universal expressed worry on paying artists fairly for AI-generated music that mimics the sounds of real musicians, like the popular Drake and The Weeknd tune.

It also criticized TikTok's content filtering, claiming that "the tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment on the platform" was not sufficiently addressed.

TikTok responded: "It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.

"Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent," it added.

Universal's rival Warner Music agreed a licensing deal with TikTok in July 2023.