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After 10 weeks of being absent from the platform, Taylor Swift\u2019s music has returned to TikTok \u2014 or at least her more recent songs and \u201cTaylor\u2019s Version\u201d cuts, since she owns those masters.<\/p>\n
Taylor Swift\u2019s music, and music from all artists signed to Universal Music Group, was pulled from TikTok when the two parties were unable to come to a renewed licensing agreement. UMG published a scathing press release accusing TikTok of trying to \u201cbully\u201d the label into accepting a deal worth less than its previous one. UMG framed its refusal to come to a deal with TikTok as a means of standing up for emerging artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did [TikTok] try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars,\u201d UMG wrote<\/a>. \u201cTikTok\u2019s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.\u201d<\/p>\n TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n UMG also represents superstars like Billie Eilish, BTS, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo, but Swift is in a unique position. After contractual disputes of her own, Swift has been re-recording her old albums<\/a> to reclaim ownership of the songs. Her \u201cTaylor\u2019s Version\u201d recordings are back on TikTok, but songs from records like \u201cReputation,\u201d which doesn\u2019t yet have a \u201cTaylor\u2019s Version,\u201d are still absent from the platform.<\/p>\n The timing of Swift\u2019s return to TikTok isn\u2019t a coincidence. Next week, Swift will release her new album, \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department.\u201d Even artists as huge as Swift are not immune to the necessity for social media marketing \u2014 and if fans can\u2019t make TikToks using sounds from the new record, the album might be \u2026 slightly less ubiquitous? But the partnership is beneficial for TikTok too. With a fanbase like Swift\u2019s, it\u2019s inevitable that numerous audio trends will emerge from the album, and TikTok won\u2019t want to miss out on that engagement, especially since Reels will have that music anyway.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n