If you're a TikTok user, you'll be familiar with the free reign you have to use the music of some of the biggest stars on the planet in your videos.
Indeed, the platform has been solely responsible for breaking some up-and-coming artists over the last few years, due to a song of theirs going viral.
However, that is all set to change as Universal Music Group - which is home to artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Adele, Justin Bieber and Elton John - has reportedly begun to pull its catalogue from the social media platform.
UMG first issued the threat on Tuesday, when the organisation revealed that they had failed to come to an agreement with TikTok regarding compensation for its artists and songwriters.
"TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay," it said in a statement, adding that "protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users" were also concerns.
The open letter claimed that "TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay."
In response, TikTok issued their own statement yesterday accusing UMG of being greedy.
"It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters," it read. "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 ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans."
Now, it seems that UMG have indeed begun pulling their catalogue from the site.
No UMG artist has responded to the latest development as yet.
