No License to Listen: How TikTok Lost Its Soundtrack

[1]

The record label Universal Music Group (“UMG”) silenced TikTok videos on the social media platform in 2024 amid licensing disputes.[2] Under the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright protection attaches to “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression”.[3] The Copyright Act treats musical works, including the lyrics, and sound recordings as separate categories of protected works, which are both able to be protected.[4] Because the lyrics and the sound recordings can be separately owned and licensed, a platform using recording music may need authorization from both the owner of the lyrics and the sound recording.[5] 

Copyright owners have tools to address unauthorized uses of their works on digital platforms.[6] Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), limits copyright liability for qualifying online service providers that satisfy statutory requirements, including responding quickly to proper notices identifying allegedly infringing works.[7] This notice and removal framework allows copyright owners to seek removal for unauthorized uses while providing qualifying platforms with protection from liability for certain user generated content.[8] More recently, disputes have arisen over licensing and royalty payments for songwriters and music producers.[9]

The Money Behind the Music

            On February 1, 2024, millions of TikTok videos went silent when UMG pulled its music from the platform.[10] UMG is the “world’s largest record label by market share,” managing many of the music industry’s most popular artists.[11] Silencing songs limited TikTok’s user experience as users could no longer use the pulled songs to film clips, and videos that were previously paired with music were now soundless.[12]

UMG stated that its previous licensing agreement had an unfair compensation structure, and argued that TikTok did not adequately compensate its artists and songwriters.[13] Their argument centered around compensation for songs that provided the musical background for viral videos.[14] Under the previous agreement, TikTok only paid a royalty for use of a song in a specific user-created video with no increase in payment for videos with millions of viewers.[15] This was unlike the agreements UMG had with other platforms such as YouTube and Spotify, where UMG was paid per listen, creating a much larger revenue stream.[16] TikTok itself only generates about one percent of revenue for UMG, although it does provide exposure to songs, often leading them to become hits that make more money on other platforms.[17]

Compensation was not UMG’s only concern. The company also criticized TikTok’s approach to artificial intelligence, arguing that the platform’s treatment of AI-generated music threatened human artists and could dilute the royalty pool.[18] UMG sought greater protections against unauthorized AI-generated content involving its artists, making artificial intelligence another significant issue in the licensing negotiations.[19] 

TikTok Without the Tunes

            As the parties could not come to an agreement over increased compensation for artists and songwriters, when the licensing agreement expired, UMG removed its songs until a new agreement could be reached.[20] However, the importance of music on TikTok was apparent to both parties, as about eighty-five percent of the 34 million videos that are posted daily feature music.[21] Artists such as Noah Kahan supported UMG’s endeavor to strike a more profitable deal, while also expressing concern over the stability of their careers since TikTok is where many of their songs became hits.[22] From the perspective of TikTok, consumers find value in using almost any song they want in their videos, and eliminating songs from large artists such as Billie Eilish, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo could lead to user frustration.[23] 

            During the three months of silenced songs, popular songs that were previously available on TikTok were streamed at a two to three percent increase on other platforms, showing that TikTok leads to consumption of popular songs.[24] Artists who only allowed a portion of their catalog on TikTok received a one to three percent decrease in streams on other platforms of songs that were not previously available, suggesting that TikTok indeed promotes new music discovery.[25] Although TikTok leads to new music discovery, the revenue from TikTok’s pay-per-video structure is less than the pay-per-listen scheme on other platforms.[26] Because other platforms such as Spotify and YouTube specifically pay per listen, researchers calculated that UMG was likely losing $788 million annually from those platforms due to consumers listening to songs on TikTok instead.[27]

The End of the Silence

The millions of songs UMG pulled from TikTok were restored to the platform on May 1, 2024, after the parties came to a final agreement.[28] They announced “improved remuneration” where artist and songwriter compensation would be greater under the new licensing deal than under the previous deal.[29] The agreement also included new protections concerning generative AI, reflecting UMG’s concerns about unauthorized AI-generated content and the protection of human artists.[30] This dispute exhibited the value music provides to social media platforms and content creation; users are incentivized by gaining access to music, but adequate royalties must be paid to provide fair compensation to artists and songwriters.[31] 

References

[1] Photo by Zulfugar Karimov, TikTok Logo on a Keyboard, Unsplash (May 7, 2025), https://unsplash.com/photos/tiktok-logo-on-a-keyboard-yZdtgVjWJRA. 

[2] See Scott Nover, What Happened When TikTok Songs Went Silent for Three Months, Working Knowledge (Mar. 5, 2025), https://www.library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/what-happened-when-tiktok-songs-went-silent-for-three-months. 

[3] See 17 U.S.C. § 102(a) (2018) (explaining copyrightable works must be original and fixed in tangible medium of expression); see also Punit Motiwala, World Music Day 2024: The History of Music and Copyright, Copyright All. (June 20, 2024), https://copyrightalliance.org/history-music-copyright/. 

[4] See U.S. Copyright Off., Circular 56A, Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions & Sound Recordings (Mar. 2021), https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf.

[5] See 17 U.S.C. § 106 (2018).

[6] See 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) (2018).

[7] See Universal Music Grp., An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community: Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok (Jan. 30, 2024), https://www.universalmusic.com/an-open-letter-to-the-artist-and-songwriter-community-why-we-must-call-time-out-on-tiktok/.

[8] See Motiwala, supra note 3.

[9] See id.

[10] See Nover, supra note 2.

[11] See id.

[12] See id.

[13] See id.

[14] See id.

[15] See id.

[16] See id.

[17] See John Yang & Jonah Anderson, Why Universal Music Group is Pulling Songs From TikTok, PBS News Hour (Feb. 1, 2024), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-universal-music-group-is-pulling-songs-from-tiktok.

[18] See Universsal Music Grp., supra note 7.

[19] See id.

[20] See Nover, supra note 2. 

[21] See id.

[22] See Yang & Anderson, supra note 17.

[23] See id.

[24] See Nover, supra note 2.

[25] See id.

[26] See id.

[27] See id.

[28] See Tom Gerken, TikTok and Universal Settle Music Royalties Dispute, BBC (May 2, 2024), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cll4ggr8re1o.

[29] See id.

[30] See Universal Music Group and TikTok Announce New Licensing Agreement, TikTok (May 2, 2024), https://newsroom.tiktok.com/universal-music-group-and-tiktok-announce-new-licensing-agreement/.

[31] See Nover, supra note 2.