Universal Music Group, a global leader in music-based entertainment, and TikTok today announced a new multi-dimensional licensing agreement that will deliver significant industry-leading benefits to UMG's global family of artists, songwriters and labels, giving their music back to TikTok's global community of more than 1 billion people.
“This joint agreement marks a new era of strategic collaboration between the two organizations, built on a shared commitment to helping UMG artists and songwriters realize their creative and commercial potential. By leveraging TikTok's best-in-class technology, marketing and promotional capabilities, UMG and TikTok will provide improved compensation to UMG songwriters and artists, new promotion and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs, and industry-leading protections for generative AI.
Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said: “This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok is focused on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the thriving creative community. We look forward to working with the TikTok team to further benefit artists and songwriters and drive innovation in fan engagement while advancing social music monetization.”
TikTok CEO Shou Chu said: “Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we're thrilled to find a way forward with Universal Music Group. We're committed to working together to further value, discover and promote all of UMG's incredible artists and songwriters and deepen their ability to grow, connect and engage with the TikTok community.”
TikTok fans can look forward to the return of UMG's recorded music and publishing catalogue and once again enjoy creating videos with music from some of the world's biggest artists and songwriters, as well as exciting emerging talent.
As part of the agreement, the two organizations will work together to realize new monetization opportunities leveraging TikTok's growing e-commerce capabilities and collaborate on campaigns to support UMG's artists across genres and regions around the world.
TikTok continues to invest significant resources in building artist-centric tools to help UMG artists realize their potential on the growing platform. Tools like the “Add to Music App,” enhanced data and analytics, and integrated ticketing capabilities leverage TikTok's scale and engaged community to benefit artists both financially and as they build their global fanbase, while providing greater online safety protections for artists and fans.
Additionally, TikTok and UMG will work together to ensure that AI developments across the music industry protect human artistry and the economies that flow to those artists and songwriters. TikTok is also working with UMG to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from its platform as well as develop tools to improve attribution for artists and songwriters.
“We're thrilled to welcome UMG and UMPG back to TikTok and look forward to working together to pave the way for deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans,” said Ole Oberman, global head of music business development at TikTok. “In particular, we look forward to working together to ensure that AI tools are developed responsibly to enable a new era of musical creativity and fan engagement while protecting human creativity.”
Michael Nash, chief digital officer and executive vice president, Universal Music Group, said, “Forging transformative partnerships with key innovators is critical to UMG's commitment to advancing an environment where artists and songwriters thrive. We're excited to resume our relationship with TikTok, given the significant advancements in commercial and marketing opportunities and the protections TikTok's industry-leading artists will enjoy on the platform. With the ever-evolving ways in which social interaction, fan engagement, music discovery and artistic ingenuity converge on TikTok, we see great potential for future collaborations.”
UMG and TikTok are currently working expeditiously to return music from artists represented by Universal Music Group and songwriters represented by Universal Music Publishing Group to TikTok in a timely manner.