TikTok Removes Taylor Swift and The Weeknd’s Music

TikTok has removed music by popular artists such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Olivia Rodrigo from its platform after failing to reach a new licensing agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG). The previous agreement between TikTok and UMG expired on Wednesday, and the two parties were unable to come to terms on a new deal. UMG accused TikTok of offering to pay a significantly lower rate compared to other social media sites for access to its songs, while TikTok accused UMG of spreading false information. As a result, all videos containing UMG music will be muted, and users will not be able to create new videos with those tracks. Some artists, like Ariana Grande and Katy Perry, have had most of their music removed from their official pages, except for a few songs released under other labels. Billie Eilish, another UMG artist, has had all but one of her songs taken down. Unofficial versions of tracks are still available on TikTok.