By Kylee Waller
Recently, many TikTokers woke up to the alarming news that most of their videos were now completely silent. Many took to the internet searching to see if this was a giant glitch affecting the nation. Others believed that it was the beginning of TikTok finally being banned in the United States like it had been rumored to have been for years. However, the truth was much more interesting. The truth was that Universal Music Group had chosen to pull the rights to all of its music and affiliates’ music off the platform. This meant that many beloved songs by artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Lana Del Ray, and Taylor Swift would not be able to be posted on TikTok officially. What does this mean for artists and consumers alike?
Music Streaming
This news can be very annoying to consumers. Many younger audiences, specifically Gen Z, use this popular app to look for their next favorite song. When a certain song or audio trends on TikTok, it is only a matter of time before it becomes a staple on any top hits playlist on other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. One example of this could be the song “Misty” by Leslie Gore. This song recently went viral as a calming audio usually used for baking videos and day-in-the-life videos. This song was originally released back in 1963 but was brought back to the charts due to its popularity online. In this day and age, there no longer is a need for radio hits. According to CBS News, 41% of Americans listen to music through streaming platforms while only 31% listen to the radio. Many people have switched from the radio to streaming services to find new music, and by removing TikTok from the equation, fans will need to flock to some new way to discover music.
Negative Effects
More detrimentally, this news can completely alter the careers of many artists. As stated earlier, artists are no longer striving to make radio hits. Many artists, specifically ones who are up-and-coming, are trying to make content that will go viral. TikTok served as free advertising and exposure for many newer artists. One example of this would be would be Noah Kahan. The success of his song, “Stick Season” was almost completely because of TikTok. Many users found his song to pair perfectly with calming day-in-the-life videos and aesthetic get-ready-with-me content. Someone who was no one yesterday is now a billboard charting artist, and this is all because of the publicity he received from TikTok.
Another example of this would be Ariana Grande’s unreleased hit, “Fantasize.” Ariana Grande is a global sensation, yet one of her most popular recent hits never was released publicly. “Fantasize” became a viral hit among consumers, gaining its own dance trend on the platform.
Conclusion
While the motive for removing the content was due to a failure to reach an agreement between TikTok and UMG, I think that UMG is being greedy by removing their music from TikTok. The platform was a great way for larger artists to get in tune with their fans and for smaller artists to grow and thrive in a controlled setting. This is once again an example of a large corporation taking advantage of its affiliates for its personal gain.
Happy Valley Comm 