Universal Music Artists to Return to TikTok After New Licensing Agreement

TikTok and Universal Music struck a new licensing deal that will return the record label’s artists and their songs to the video-sharing app, ending months of disagreements over pay.

The world’s largest music company said it had secured improved remuneration for its artists—including the likes of Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande—and that it was working with TikTok to bring their music back to the platform.

The deal comes after the companies failed to reach an agreement by the time their previous licensing contract expired at the end of January, prompting Universal to pull its artists’ content off TikTok in early February.

The withdrawal marked an unusual step that put the spotlight on how much TikTok pays Universal’s artists to make the record label’s vast music catalog available to one billion-plus users worldwide.

Universal Music shares opened almost 2% higher in Amsterdam after news of the deal. Citi analysts called the agreement a fairly surprising development in a note to clients, citing the acrimonious nature of previous negotiations.

Universal alleged in an open letter to the artist and songwriter community on Jan. 30 that TikTok proposed paying artists and songwriters “at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay.” TikTok countered at the time that Universal was putting its own “greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.”

Universal Music Chief Executive Lucian Grainge has been a strong advocate for artists and songwriters when it comes to recognition and pay for their work. He welcomed the new deal, saying it paved the way to further the interests of Universal artists.

As part of the new deal, the companies will work to promote and monetize artists’ content, leveraging TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities. TikTok, for its part, said it would continue to pour significant resources into building tools that will help artists better engage with their fans.

“With the constantly evolving ways that social interaction, fan engagement, music discovery and artistic ingenuity converge on TikTok, we see great potential in our collaboration going forward,” said Michael Nash, chief digital officer at Universal Music.

The partnership will also focus on protecting artists’ work from artificial intelligence by deploying tools to improve attribution and removing unauthorized AI-generated music.

Write to Adrià Calatayud at [email protected] and Mauro Orru at [email protected]