This past Monday, Universal Music Group, a leading global music company, and TikTok, a short-form video platform that hosts over 800 million active users, announced new terms for their existing, global alliance. These new terms include ‘equitable compensation for recording artists and songwriters’ and ‘the development of new, innovative experiences that will forge deeper bonds between fans, artists, and the music they love’.
We are happy to announce a global partnership between TikTok and @UMG today. Music is the language of TikTok and our community will be more empowered than ever to express themselves, using the sounds of the artists and songwriters Universal represents! https://t.co/6LSiCMuUhL
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) February 8, 2021
The strengthened alliance also means that new features will be introduced; for example, TikTok users will now be given access to Universal’s entire music portfolio. With this new agreement, both companies hope to empower the next generation of music creators by giving them ample resources on which they can innovate and can form music-centric communities.
“We are excited to enter this new era with UMG and UMPG to continue supporting artists and songwriters, by working together to help reach music fans on TikTok. Our platform has been a driver in creating chart hits and licensing the world’s biggest catalog of tracks will continue to inspire our community. In turn, we are proud to partner with UMG and UMPG to be a source to help new talent emerge and to re-introduce legacy acts to a new audience.” — Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music for TikTok
“UMG and TikTok will now work more closely than ever to promote ambitious experimentation, innovation and collaboration — with the shared objective of developing new music experiences and features. Driving new and deeper connections with fans, this agreement delivers equitable compensation to our recording artists and songwriters, as well as a commitment to develop industry-leading tools, A&R insights and models necessary to advance their careers.” — Michael Nash, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy at UMG
This strengthened partnership signifies that both companies view music creators as an important component for their success. Moreover, the expanded terms indicate that Universal views TikTok as a big opportunity to aid their talent identification and to innovate the way music is created and shared.
So – if you are a music creator – TikTok may be your best way to music stardom and a signed deal.