TikTok and Universal end legal battle (for now)

During February 2024, TikTok and Universal Music were involved in a dispute over the rights to songs owned by the record label. The social network had described Universal as putting its ‘own greed’ before the interests of the artists. Faced with the dispute, the music giant decided to pull its entire catalogue, including tracks by Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, Olivida Rodriguez and more, from the Chinese platform.

Now, the two companies have announced that they have reached an agreement on royalty payments that would allow songs by artists such as Lady Gaga to be played on the social network. In a statement, UMG announced this new ‘multi-dimensional licensing agreement that will provide significant benefits’ to both companies and ‘bring their music back to TikTok’s global community of more than one billion’.

Universal’s music will return to the platform imminently, and the two companies have pledged to collaborate, aiming to achieve ‘new monetisation opportunities using TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities, and will work together on campaigns that support artists across genres and territories globally’.