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On January 30th, 2024, Universal Music Group UMG published A
scathing open letter on its website.
The letter accused social. Media behemoth TikTok of
threatening and intimidating UMG during contract negotiations for
music. Licensing rights the letter.
Claims. That TikTok success was built in
large part. Due to the music.
Produced by UMG Artists and. Songwriters, given that UMG
controls approximately 1/3 of the world's music and represents
some of the industry's most. Prolific artists like Taylor.
Swift, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, and Olivia Rodrigo.
This claim is not entirely baseless.
The company said it went to TikTok with three major issues
to negotiate in its contract. One artist compensation.
Two the rise of. AI generated music available and
encouraged on TikTok and. Three the safety of.
Users on the app the platform did not budget, instead UMG.
Alleged that TikTok. Attempted to bully the music
giant by offering a deal worth less than their previous
agreement and by removing music from some of Umgs developing
artists quote. TikTok tactics are obvious, the
letter reads. Use this 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.
But taking this dispute? Public didn't turn out to be the
move. That UMG thought it would be.
People didn't like that UMGA company worth over. 50 billion
USD positioned itself as the underdog this letter.
Felt like an attempt to gain public sympathy, to manipulate.
TikTok right back. Putting.
Everyday users in the. Middle of a contract
disagreement between 2 multibillion dollar corporations
that. Both have a history of putting
profits over artists best interests.
And no matter how strong UM GS points were, they were always
going to be fighting a losing battle.
Tiktok. Had built the most.
Powerful music discovery. Platform of our time and they
were not backing down in response to UM GS 840.
Two word open letter, Tiktok responded.
With four sentences quote, it is sad and disappointing that
Universal Music Group has put their own.
Greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.
Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric.
The fact is, they have chosen to.
Walk away from the powerful. Support of a platform with.
Well, over a billion. Users that serves as a free.
Promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent, TikTok
has been able. To reach artists first.
Agreements with. Every other label and publisher.
Clearly. Universal, self-serving actions.
Are not in the best interest of artists, songwriters and fans.
On January 31st, 2024, Universal Music Group removed its catalog
from the app from Centennial World.
I'm Lauren Meisner, and this is Infinite.
Scroll a podcast. About Internet culture, the
creator economy, and how social media is shaping Gen.
Z. Welcome back to Infinite Scroll.
All right, so I. Do want to start giving a?
Few more personal updates. In the middle of.
These deep dives I. Know you guys are missing that,
I know that. Was a huge reason that a.
Lot of you listened to the podcast before was, you know,
kind of for our banter and our updates and things like that,
and I definitely want to start bringing a bit of that.
Back I will say that the. Solution that I have to viral
news on Tuesdays. It's not going to be.
Exactly the same, of course. But when I do bring that back,
that will be much less formal. It'll be chattier, more
conversational. So you will get.
That, but in the meantime, until that's ready.
I. Did want to address some of the
messages? That I've received, obviously.
I I kind of touched on last week that you guys have been so
supportive and amazing and. I just feel so.
Lucky to have an audience that is sticking with me through this
transition and kind of these growing pains here, but I have
received a lot of messages, just like asking how I am and
checking in. Which is so sweet.
So I actually think jump scare I might.
Post a YouTube video. On my old channel, talking about
kind of my life and the last. Six weeks and what?
It's been like and. The direction of things for me.
I don't know. It's still something that's in
the works. If you guys want that, let me
know for sure. Like just slide into my DMS,
message me, let me know. I do miss that conversational
aspect. With you guys these deep dives.
It was important for me to script them and I don't regret
that at all. It's been significantly more
work. I did not expect that.
But I knew. I had to script.
Things If I was going to do deep dives alone, as I've said many
times, I don't consider myself a natural podcaster.
I'm a much better writer than I am a.
Speaker A talker. I guess on my.
Feet, So I knew. Without having somebody to
bounce ideas off of and conversation.
Off of for these deep. Dives.
It was important that I had. It all scripted.
But of course that changes the dynamic, that changes our.
Relationship a little. Bit and I don't want to lose
kind of that. Parasocial relationship with
you. Guys, but yes, in terms of how
I'm feeling, you know, it's been really rough.
I know I haven't really shared anything.
About what It's. Been like for me.
These past six weeks. But I.
Can. Honestly say it has been
probably the hardest. Six weeks of my life.
And I know that sounds really dramatic and I'm aware that that
is pretty dramatic. You know, nothing is actually
wrong, thankfully, but yeah, mental health wise, it's been a.
Huge struggle. For me, I haven't really been
sleeping. I've had.
Really, really bad. Insomnia I've had horrific, like
stress and anxiety. I went through a.
Period. Where I wasn't really able to
eat which. Just does not happen to me like
I'm just such an eater and you guys know I'm so.
Obsessed with the gym? And that's completely.
Fallen off? Like I just.
I didn't expect this transition to.
Impact me so much. So I I.
Know that, you guys. Can also tell like I know.
That in the episodes, the energy that I'm bringing and I know
just like even on social media, not that I think a lot of you
guys follow me for like my Instagram and stuff, but you
know, like I'm not really posting and stuff and some of
you have messaged me, you know, checking in and mentioning that
and that's. Basically why I just I.
Don't know. I feel like I'm kind of living
in like a fog, like a like a Daydream everyday.
I'm just trying to like get. Through.
And I know this will pass and I'm starting to hire for some
roles within the business which I think will really help me.
But I am I. Guess just burnt out.
Like I I guess that this is probably.
What proper burnout feels like? Like completely unable to sleep,
having to nap during the day, Like unable to get work done at
the times when I need to get it done, which has never been an
issue for me, honestly. Thank God.
For the people. Around me I feel.
So supported. You know, my husband, my
parents, my parents are always message messaging me like, Oh my
God, we believe in you. Keep going.
We're so. Excited to see what you do?
They're so. Sweet.
You know, all of my friends are always checking in.
And thank God for Crystal and Annabelle.
Both of them have made it so that, like, the business can
keep going. Annabelle, of course.
At a practical level, she is like truly.
Keeping the business going. She is the one that's behind the
scenes, you know, writing the content, coming up with plans
like she's coming to me. I know she listens to this.
She's going to like, die when she hears me talking like this.
But you know, she's the one that's coming to me when she can
tell I'm struggling and she's like.
Okay. Here's the plan.
We're not going to be able. To get all of.
This done this week, so why don't?
We do XYZ to make. It so that we're you know,
working smarter instead of harder and things like.
That like, she's really. Taken some ownership and some
control over the content side of the business in this transition
period which has been just so life saving and crystal.
Of course she doesn't work directly with me, but it kind of
feels. Like she does and she is just.
Constantly giving me advice. I'm bouncing every single.
Idea off of her She's been so. Amazing and helpful in this.
Process, so I have a lot of support which is great.
And. Yes, I will of course get
through this, but that is why I know you guys.
Can tell the energy. Has been a bit.
Different and yeah, I just genuinely have been really
struggling. But anyways on that note.
As always. Please remember to write, review
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are also. Obsessed with Internet culture
and creator drama and tea? And you can chat with me, So I
just wanted to read one quick review that I got from This week
from. Alicia, who wrote your back?
Yay, missed the pod. You've got this, Lauren.
Thank you. To understand how TikTok found
itself in a power struggle with the biggest music conglomerate
in the world, we first need to look at how the platform became
so influential in music discovery in the 1st place.
And for that, let's rewind a decade.
In 2014, Alex Hsu and Louis Yang were product managers working at
an insurance technology company in Shanghai.
The two had the. Idea to build an educational
platform where users could learn about different concepts and
topics in a short form video format biz, Carson writes for
Business Insider. Quote The idea was that experts,
whether for coffee or calculus, could create short.
Three to five minute videos explaining a subject.
The two raised. 250,000 USD to build and launch the app.
Six months later, Zhu and Yang realized they were in trouble.
The app wasn't getting enough traffic and the content was, to
put it frankly, boring. Quote lesson.
Planners had a hard time condensing their expertise into
3 minutes. Content creation and consumption
needed to be within minutes and seconds, not hours.
It wasn't entertaining, and it didn't attract teens.
Zhu and Yang had to. Pivot for the platform.
To succeed in an interview with. Forbes, Zhu.
Explains what prompted the shift toward music.
While on a train with just $20,000 of runway left, he
noticed that quote. 50% of teens were listening to music and the
other 50% were taking photos and videos with their speaker on top
to add music. This prompted Zhu and Yang to
find a way to combine music, social media and video.
And so, musically was born. They pivoted from education to
entertainment that same year. And then something somewhat
serendipitous happened. The.
American reality show Lip. Sync Battle started airing.
So the term lip. Sync was trending on the App
Store. The founders decided to
capitalize on this. Quote after the show.
People use lip sync as a. Keyword to search.
On the app. Store Zoo told Forbes.
We decided we should. Highlight lip sync as a primary.
Use case for the. App to make it even more
compelling for our teens and made some major design changes
By July 2016. Musically hit #1 on the App
Store, achieving mainstream success in the United States and
beyond, peaking around 2016. Musically became known for lip
syncing and dancing videos created in a very.
Specific, fast-paced, jerky style God to migraine.
And my pain will bring from up, down and sideways.
Thank God it's my day. Because my days will always be
better than Sundays. Because Sundays I'm a.
Suicide Days, Some of the most. Popular creators, or as they
were called Musers. On the app included.
Baby Ariel Jacob Sartorius. And Lauren Gray, what made
musically? So successful was the gap it.
Filled in social media. Before this, platforms didn't
really have access. To mainstream or copyrighted?
Music. For reference, Instagram only
added music to Stories in June 2018, just over a year after
hitting number one in the. App Store the wall.
Street Journal reported in November 2017 that Musically was
to be. Acquired by the.
Chinese tech conglomerate Bike Dance for as much as $1 billion
at the time, Musically had around 100 million users.
At the beginning of August 2018, Musically officially merged with
TikTok under Bytedance. Bytedance launched an app called
Duyan in 2016, which was essentially a clone of Musically
for Chinese users. The company later launched Tik.
T.O.K which was available for users outside.
Of China upon the acquisition of musically all.
Musically, users were. Migrated over to their new
TikTok accounts. Now there are conflicting.
Reports over whether. TikTok was its own app before
the merger. Some publications have
positioned Tik. T.O.K as the result.
Of Bytedance's acquisition, but according to a statement from
the TikTok newsroom on August 1st, 2018, it seems that.
TikTok. Was a stand alone app and was
separate from doing in before the acquisition.
Quote Today it was announced that 2.
Of the world's. Fastest growing short form video
apps Musically and TikTok will unite to create a new global
app. The newly upgraded platform.
Which keeps the TikTok name creates a.
Unified user. Experience debuts, a new logo
and user interface, and offers. Greater capabilities for video.
Creation by bringing together the best of TikTok and musically
TikTok now becomes the world's number one.
Go to destination for short form video content creation and
consumption, a statement from August 1st, 2018 on Tik Tok's
newsroom reads. According to Tech Crunch, TikTok
had around 500 million monthly active users at the time of the
merger. Now to understand Tik Tok's
position in the market, it's. Important to look at.
Why Bytedance acquired musically According to the New York Times,
this acquisition was part of a greater strategy to expand
beyond the Chinese market and go global, as Paul Moser writes
quote by integrating. Musically as global reach.
With Bytedance's massive user base in China and key Asian
markets, we are creating a significant global platform for
our content creators and brands to engage with new markets.
With that in mind, TikTok wasn't.
Necessarily created to. Become a music sharing platform.
It was something more of an accident.
Musically, never intended to be a music.
First app. But rather an educational one
and the musically. TikTok merger was.
Seemingly A strategic way for Bytedance to expand its.
User base and convert. Users across different
platforms. Bytedance's decision to rebrand
musically. To TikTok also.
Suggests that music wasn't necessarily the.
Focus of the platform, but rather short.
Form content, hence the Clock branding reporting by Demi Lee
for The Verge at the time of this merger.
Further proves this theory. Writing quote TikTok will be
missing an essential part of the musically history which was
built on teens lip syncing and dancing to music.
All the features to make. Karaoke videos are still.
There, but rebranding the app with a new name and forcing the
old Musically users to migrate to a new platform is a move that
may alienate the original community.
With this, we can see there was an assumption at the time that
TikTok would not. Fill the gap of.
Lip syncing and dancing content that musically was leaving
behind. While TikTok may have not
intended to become a music discovery platform, it quickly
became one of the most. Popular ways to.
Discover new music for Gen. Z.
There are a few reasons for this.
Number one. The popularity of Tik.
T.O.K dances coincided. With the app's rise to.
Success When TikTok hit the mainstream in 2020, the most
popular videos on the app were dance videos and the most
popular. Creators were TikTok dancers
like Charlie d'amelio. And Addison Ray.
So for me, I actually had like the one video to go viral that
kind of started all it was. It was a duet of this woman move
with joy, who makes easy dances and it's her voice speaking and
you just copy whatever she says. So I do edit the video that she
did. And it was just like step, step,
hip, hip, like stuff like that. Very simple.
It was like 8 moves it got up to before I walked in dance class.
It was about 50,000. I was like, that's it, I'm
famous, don't talk to me. Of course, Renegade is one of
the most iconic examples of this.
The Renegade dance set to K Camp Song Lottery skyrocketed Charlie
D'amelio to TikTok fame. Though she didn't actually
choreograph the dance, then 14 year old Julia Harmon created
it. At the time of recording, the
song Lottery by K Camp has almost 14,000,000 TikTok videos
posted under the audio. These dances became popular on
TikTok. Because they were, largely.
Accessible to the average person, the majority of dances
were dominated by hand movements, making it easier for
non dancers to join in on the trend, Margaret Furr writes for
the New York Times. Quote dance has defined TikTok
since it arrived on the international scene in 2017.
The platforms forced vertical orientation and one minute time
limit helped give rise to a building block collection of.
Basic tight, upright steps. That the average person could
learn and replicate. Since then a number of dance
subcultures have formed and some cater to more advanced dancers.
Quote Even when you have a professional dancer doing.
High level choreography. They're doing it in their
bedroom, maybe in their pajamas. It's the special kind of access
and it feels particularly intimate when you know that 20
minutes from now they could be on stage doing very similar.
Stuff as dances. Have become heavily associated
with TikTok. It's open the door for music to
take center stage on the platform.
The second reason that TikTok turned into a music.
Discovery. App is the nature.
Of the for you. Page now.
We have discussed. The nature of the For You page
on this podcast so many times, so I don't want to regurgitate
the same messaging too much. But with.
Users more inclined to. Scroll the for you page rather.
Than their following tab. It's easier to come.
Across new creators or musicians for the first time.
And the third reason that TikTok has turned into a music.
Discovery app is the. Culture on the platform has
become less about putting out original content and more about
putting your own spin on someone else's content the app was
designed with. Features like Duet and.
Stitch. Which enable users to easily
engage with the creator. 'S content by creating their own
content about that content, this encourages piggybacking on ideas
or trends and makes it much easier to share on the platform,
as creators don't necessarily need to be unique.
The Culture on Tiktok. Is more about collective.
Creating When it comes to how this impacts music, Ryan
Broderick shared this. Thought quote.
Tiktok's biggest impact is not just on music, but the
unprecedented open. Flow of audio file.
Sharing. We've honestly never had a
platform be this big and allow this much remixable audio.
Also most. TikTok users still use audio
files. As a sort of hyperlink between
different content on the app, it's an important discovery tool
aside from these theories outlined.
There is concrete evidence to. Support that tik.
T.O.K now plays a major role in music discovery, according to
Tik Tok's Music Impact Report from 2023.
The short form video. App Quote fuels music discovery
The Music Impact report was commissioned by TikTok and
created by research firm Luminate.
Collected data from TikTok users from the USUK, Indonesia,
Germany and Brazil between Q 3/20/22 and Q 3/20/23.
Some of the key findings for TikTok users include in the.
US TikTok. Users are two times more likely
to discover new music than other social media.
Users or short? Form video consumers and two in
the US 62%. Of TikTok users.
Pay for a music streaming service compared to 43% of
consumers overall, given Tik Tok's influence in music
discovery. The platform has, of course.
Also become a launchpad for many of today's.
Popular artists. Elevating local talent to
worldwide fame, Doja CAD is arguably the most prominent
example of this. Having posted on SoundCloud
since the early twenty 10s, Doja CAD had an online following
before blowing up on TikTok. But it was Tik.
T.O.K Virality and the success of her single.
Say so that skyrocketed. Her into the mainstream say so
found so much success largely thanks to creator.
Haley Sharp, who created a viral.
Tick tock dance to the song in December 2019.
Haley was a 17 year old competitive dancer.
Who had a large? Following of over 1,000,000 at
the time when she choreographed the dance, Haley's existing
platform helped catapult the dance and thus the song.
To TikTok virality. With many of the major TikTok
dancers at the time, like Charlie D'amelio and Addison
Ray, recreating her choreography, But Say So's
mainstream success wasn't all down to Tik.
T.O.K. As the song blew up online, Doja
Cat lent in before artist Leaning into TikTok was even a
thing. She actually cast.
Haley in the music. Video for Say so.
And together Doja and Haley. Did the viral say so, Tik?
T.O.K dance in the music video fans were.
Obsessed with this collaboration as a result?
The song became Doja's first platinum and multi platinum
single and by the end of the. Year say so.
Was the 10th most streamed song in the.
US with five. 162,000,000 on demand streams proving to
artists and. Executives everywhere, The Power
of TikTok. Marketing for the music
industry. By 2021, the impact of TikTok in
the music industry was undeniable.
Tik Tok's user base had. Reached over 1 billion monthly
active users, and the app had already turned out several.
Artists who? Broke into the mainstream like
Main Skin, Pink Pantheris and Coil Array, but it was the 2021
Grammys. That really solidified the
platform's influence. Over popular music, as Jordan
Christensen writes for Centennial World quote of the
nominations winners and those asked to perform each had a
significant moment of virality on the app in the last 12
months. Dua Lipa, who beat out the likes
of Taylor Swift. Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and
Harry. Styles for best pop.
Vocal album with future nostalgia saw almost 4 million
views made with the 15 second clip of her song Don't Start
Now, a number which well exceeds the 1.3 million streams it has
on Spotify. Similarly, Harry Styles, a
seemingly obvious choice for the opening and longest performance
slot of the show, may not have seemed so obvious 12 months ago.
Beloved by Jen Zedd, Harry Styles found his feet for his
second studio album Fine Line, but not without The Help.
Of the hordes of. Fans present on the video
sharing platform, it is interesting to consider that in
almost every popular music category, the winner was crowned
by Tik. T.O.K first.
By then it was clear that TikTok now dominated how people
discovered music and new artists, and this shift was now
heavily impacting the corporate music scene.
As a result, artists. Started getting.
Pressured by their labels. To become a quasi content
creators as well to promote their music on TikTok.
This self. Promotion is something that many
artists have spoken out against, artist and producer Mike Barnett
told journalist Ali Dever. Quote.
Record labels used to. Be far more involved in the
development and promotion of artists.
Social media has allowed them to pass the buck and put much of
the burden of promotion onto the artists themselves.
Most labels, major or indie, don't even think about signing
an artist who doesn't already have big numbers on their social
and streaming platforms. And it's not just up and coming
artists who feel. The TikTok pressure.
Mainstream names like Halsey and Charli XEX.
Have posted. Videos expressing frustration at
being asked to make. Videos by their labels.
While trying to balance touring, writing and recording music.
Artists are also reportedly. Pressured now to write?
Shorter. Snappier Songs to Suit Tiktok
Virality The tiktokification of music is a hot button.
Topic it. Seems that music industry
insiders and fans alike consider the shift as a net negative for
music. But I would argue that Tiktok
is. Getting a bad rap here.
Because before TikTok popular music.
Was designed for the radio, and then it was designed for music
video programs like MTV, and then it was designed for
streaming services. The evolution of how music is
discovered and consumed by youth culture has been ever changing
over the past two. Decades.
And those creating music. Have had to adapt.
To that When popular music of the 20 Tens was sweeping the
Grammys, for example, we didn't say, oh, the Grammys are just
commercial radio music now. But today, one of the biggest
criticisms of the Grammys is that.
It's all just. TikTok Music.
Now, in a similar vein, it's also worth considering if TikTok
actually determines what is popular music or if popular
music. Is also just popular.
On Tik. T.O.K Would Haley Sharp have
choreographed a Tik? T.O.K Dance to Doja.
Cats say so if it wasn't. Already a popular song, now
whether or not Tik. T.O.K is actually.
More influential to music creation than other mediums of
generations past. Is debatable, but what is for
sure? Is that the corporation likes to
play into this belief in September of last.
Year. TikTok launched Elevate, a
program quote designed to identify and nurture the next
generation of musical talent who already seemed destined to make
waves worldwide. Elevate claims to.
Provide artists with both. In app and external benefits
like visibility and awareness, fan engagement, music promotion
and brand building. In an interview with Forbes,
Rachel Dunham, who was the North?
America Artist Partnerships Lead at TikTok.
Called elevate a major step in making.
Sure that TikTok is. Quote the most artist.
Friendly platform, possible despite.
This claim. However, TikTok has.
Actually made it increasingly difficult for lesser known
artists to find viral fame. For example, according to
Business Insider, Tik Tok's music operations team has a
series of promo. Levers that it uses to boost
the. Popularity of songs and its
editorial team even quote overwrote its own algorithm to
boost views. For Taylor.
Swift and Beyoncé when they first joined the platform, as
TikTok has continued to see Unprecedented.
Growth over the years. It's not a.
Stretch to say that. The app now defines popular
culture in every single way, and it seems that this power has
made TikTok increasingly greedy, particularly when it comes to
the music being played on its platform.
OK, so what's really? Going on between TikTok and UMG.
So when it comes to music there are both licensing rights and
production rights. Licensing rights are the
copyright of the song recording which is often owned by the
record label. Licensing rights are what Taylor
Swift, for example, is fighting for when she talks about re
recording her Masters publishing.
Rights are the copyright. To the DNA of the song, like the
lyrics and the actual music. Scores itself, Publishers are.
Responsible for representing the authors of a song, so these
rights are not always owned. By the record label.
But they sometimes are. Where it gets even more
confusing is that some artists have their publishing rights.
With a record label. Like UMG that they're not
actually signed to. SO in the disagreement between
TikTok and UMG, UMG at the moment is only removing their
license recordings, but UMG is threatening that if things keep
going South with TikTok they will remove the songs they hold
publishing rights to as well. Which would?
Also impact artists that aren't even signed with UMG with the
news. Of the TikTok.
UMG split creators and users. Spiraled What would TikTok?
Be without some of the world's most popular music.
But two weeks later. It doesn't really feel like much
has changed for the user experience, although music
remains a significant aspect. Of TikTok culture.
There has been a shift. TikTok dances are still around,
but they no longer dominate the For You page as they once did in
2020. And today, most of the viral
TikTok content is centered around comedy, political
discourse, and social commentary.
Genres of content where popular songs are not necessarily.
A prerequisite and for. Those who do want access.
To their favorite artist. Music on the platform.
There are already a plethora. Of fan edits and.
Remixes available to use. So this begs the question, will
this? Dispute.
Actually hold up. Well, on the in case you missed
a. Podcast.
Hosts Candace Lim and Serena Toros mentioned a similar
dispute from 2008 between Warner Music Group and YouTube as a
case. Study.
Warner Music Group Removed. All of the official videos of
its. Recording artists from YouTube
over a disagreement about its licensing deal.
The record label only held out for nine months before striking
a new. Deal with YouTube.
To get its music back on the platform.
This disagreement had commercial implications for both companies,
with Warner Music Group losing exposure, marketing and
licensing revenue, while YouTube lost a significant portion of
music. Related ad.
Revenue given how much? UMG and TIK.
T.O.K are both. Losing during this time.
It's likely. They'll come to some sort of
agreement in the near. Future But who's really?
Losing out now. Are the artists.
Not the Taylor. Swift's or the Olivia Rodrigo's?
But the developing artists, many of whom were discovered by UMG
on the very platform where they can no longer promote their
music and if we've learned anything from other social media
platforms. It's that exponential growth.
Almost always leads to increased corporate greed and a.
Worse user experience overall. Though TikTok has been the
golden child of the online world.
For the past few years, its power struggle with.
UMG over music licensing. Rights, suggests.
It may be headed down the same path as so many platforms before
it. Infinite.
Scroll is a podcast. Written, produced, edited and
presented by me Lauren Meisner for Centennial World.
Additional research and reporting is by Annabelle Ben,
David, Thank you guys so much for listening.
I love you all so much. And I will talk to you next
week.