Removal of Universal Music Group songs from TikTok

On February 1, 2024, songs made by artists of the Universal Music Group (UMG) were either muted or deleted on the social media platform TikTok.

Two days prior, UMG had published an open letter titled “Why we must call Time Out on TikTok," accusing TikTok of unsatisfactory compensation for music rights and of A.I.-generated music that UMG claims to have diluted the royalty pool for human artists. TikTok disagreed, stating that their platform "serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle" for UMG artists. The two companies' agreement expired on January 31, 2024.

Many prominent artists had their music removed, such as Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo. Some of the artists' own posts on TikTok were also muted. In a surprise move, Taylor Swift's owned catalogue returned to the platform on April 11, 2024.

Background on UMG
Universal Music Group is a Dutch-American recording company with roots as far back as 1934, when Decca Records expanded to the United States. This branch would be spun off by its English owner in 1939, and merged with MCA in 1962. MCA and PolyGram would merge in 1999. This gave them the rights to A&M Records, Def Jam, Island, Mercury, Motown, and Polydor, among others. The whole company's name was changed to Universal Music Group. Furthermore, in 2013, UMG acquired EMI, which gave them Blue Note, Capitol Records, and Virgin Records.

Reception
Some social media fan accounts, whose posts were muted, complained about the removal. Some users online noted that UMG should allow an artist to make an independent decision about the deal with TikTok.

Some artists, such as Cody Fry and Noah Kahan, who are both signed to UMG, was concerned that the takedown would affect their engagement on the internet, as TikTok virality had jumpstarted their musical careers.