Universal Music Group and TikTok renew deal to combat unauthorized AI music on platform

Universal Music Group and TikTok renew agreement to combat unauthorized AI music | TechCrunch

Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok recently announced the renewal of their licensing agreement, which includes a commitment to get rid of unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform improve how artists and songwriters are credited. In their joint announcement, UMG stated the agreement "extends TikTok and UMG's groundbreaking commitment to AI protections that promote human artistry and ensure platform economics effectively flow through to artists and songwriters. TikTok and UMG will work together to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform, while further improving artist and songwriter attribution." This new agreement represents a notable shift in the relationship between UMG and TikTok. For years, UMG has pushed platforms, streaming services, and AI companies to implement stricter content moderation policies. Tensions between UMG and TikTok escalated in 2024 when UMG accused TikTok of inadequately addressing issues related to AI-generated music and copyright. This public dispute led to UMG temporarily pulling its music catalog from TikTok -- a decision that underscored the app's growing reliance on major label licenses as popular tracks vanished from user videos overnight. The timing of TikTok's commitment to crack down on fake or unlicensed music is significant especially as the music industry wrestles with an influx of AI-generated content. Over the past couple of years, the industry has been increasingly worried about AI tools that can mimic artists' voices or create counterfeit songs that exploit streaming algorithms. Viral AI-generated tracks imitating big names like Drake and The Weeknd sparked widespread concern, especially when some racked up millions of streams before being taken down. The deal may also serve as a template for how the broader tech industry navigates the collision of AI, intellectual property, and platform accountability. As the EU tightens its regulatory grip on AI-generated content (and U.S. states increasingly follow suit) around AI-generated content, the pressure on other platforms to formalize similar governance frameworks is growing. TikTok has been working to demonstrate to the music industry that it can deliver significant earnings for artists and rights holders. Last year, the platform launched "TikTok for Artists," an insights platform designed to help artists strengthen their promotional efforts and provide music labels with access to data.

Universal Music Group and TikTok's Deal Secures Artist Royalties and AI Protections

Meanwhile, Universal Music Group has a separate deal with Spotify that allows for AI-generated parodies and remixes. Universal Music Group and TikTok have signed an agreement that will keep artists including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter and Noah Kahan playing on the platform for years to come. The announcement didn't disclose financial terms, or even how long the agreement will last ("multi-year" was the phrasing), but it appears the companies have permanently put behind them a royalties dust-up from 2024 that at one point prompted UMG to pull its music from TikTok for three months. UMG said in its announcement that the new agreement builds on a partnership it began with TikTok in 2024 and incorporates "expanded marketing and advertising campaigns, as well as access to e-commerce and other artist-centric tools." Presumably, this means UMG artists will have additional features available to sell merchandise and promote their music tours or album drops on TikTok. The agreement, UMG said, also includes provisions to provide artists with "AI protections that promote human artistry and ensure platform economics effectively flow through to artists and songwriters." TikTok and UMG will work to remove "unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform" and there will be improvements to artist and songwriter attributions, according to the companies. UMG and TikTok's announcement comes shortly after a separate agreement with Spotify that seems to go the other way on AI: it will allow fans to create remixes and cover songs of UMG music using artificial intelligence tools. The Spotify feature won't be part of the service by default: subscribers will have to pay extra, even if they're on Spotify Premium, to use those features. There's no launch date yet for the new Spotify AI tool to create those covers or remixes.

Universal Music Group, TikTok Strike New Licensing Deal For the AI Era

Universal Music Group and TikTok have unveiled a new "multi-year strategic licensing agreement" to cover royalties from big name artists and creators like Yungblud, Drake and Lady Gaga. The latest agreement builds on a 2024 partnership to ensure creative and commercial opportunities for UMG's artists and songwriters through expanded marketing and advertising campaigns involving TikTok. That deal followed the two companies going through a months-long and very public standoff over the royalties TikTok paid to UMG's artists, with the music giant ultimately pulling the music from its roster of artists and accusing the video social media giant of "trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music." UMG and TikTok struck a more collegial tone on Friday as the music label's artists, songwriters and creators will continue to get access to the social media platform's global audience for business opportunities. "The new deal also extends TikTok and UMG's groundbreaking commitment to AI (artificial intelligence) protections that promote human artistry and ensure platform economics effectively flow through to artists and songwriters. TikTok and UMG will work together to remove unauthorized AI-generated music," both companies said in a statement. On Thursday, UMG and Spotify unveiled an agreement for a new feature that allows premium subscribers to make AI-generated covers and remixes of songs. UMG and Spotify are touting the feature as a new revenue driver for music creators as they profit from the streams the fan-made content generates. UMG has previously established AI deals with the likes of AI music generator Udio, Splice and Nvidia. The new UMG agreement with TikTok will also see the two companies get deeper into fan engagement experiences and artist development initiatives, to include a spotlight on emerging artists from all over the world. "We're proud of the pioneering work we've done with TikTok to create wide-ranging benefits for our artists and songwriters. With this new agreement, we look forward to driving innovative new fan experiences, while further improving social media monetization, and protecting and amplifying human artistry," Michael Nash, executive vp and chief digital officer at UMG, said in a statement. Music has played an increasing role on the TikTok platform, and the social media player expressed its commitment to artists and songwriters growing by engaging with its global community. Tracy Gardner, global head of music business development at TikTok, added in a statement: "We're excited to take our partnership with UMG to the next level, and build on the strong foundation we've already created together for artists, songwriters and fans. TikTok is a unique platform where music discovery, culture and fandom intersect, and this agreement will help create even more opportunities for artists and songwriters to engage audiences, grow their communities and achieve career success on a global scale."