Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) are working together to make the record label’s artists viral — sans TikTok.
As part of an expansion of their existing partnership, UMG artists, including Taylor Swift and Drake, will have the ability to share teasers of upcoming music on Spotify and offer a pre-save option for new releases, the record label announced Thursday. The moves are part of the label’s efforts to help fans discover artists and “propel virality” of new song drops.
This also includes a new deal with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) that allows Spotify U.S. to share UMG artists’ music videos. This will allow UMG to “bring deeper ‘social music’ experiences” to Spotify, while increasing artist engagement with listeners, particularly when it comes to “new music and artist-centric initiatives,” said Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of UMG.
The announcement comes on the heels of TikTok’s removal of all songs written or co-written by artists signed to UMG after a contentious music rights dispute between the two firms, following the expiration of their contract earlier this year. UMG said that TikTok proposed paying the label’s artists and songwriters “a fraction” of the rate that other major platforms pay, while the social media site accounted for only roughly 1% of its total revenues.
TikTok said in a statement at the time that it remained committed to reaching an agreement with UMG.
These are just some of the artists whose music has been muted on the TikTok:
👸🏼 Taylor Swift
🧈 BTS
👟 Drake
🐰 Bad Bunny
🌊 SZA
🍉 Harry Styles
👠 Ariana Grande
🗓️ The Weeknd
But TikTok, which boasts over 1 billion active monthly users worldwide, has altered the dynamics of the music industry — from the way people discover new music, to how songs (and the artists behind them) are vaulted into popularity. During the pandemic, and in the years that followed, TikTok showed how short-form videos could blow up songs and artists seemingly overnight, largely driven by fan interactions and viral social media trends.
Labels have begun to recognize that impact. Last July, Warner Music Group (WMG) and TikTok inked a deal to create new revenue and marketing for WMG’s artists and songwriters on the social media site.
It was also reported last May that TikTok had pursued deals with dozens of musicians to distribute their music through a music marketing and distribution platform founded by TikTok, called SoundOn.
Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said the expanded partnership between the music streaming platform and TikTok will empower artists to “authentically express themselves, efficiently promote their work, and better monetize their art.”
Spotify’s shares climbed a little more than 2% on Thursday afternoon following the announcement; UMG’s stock rose 2.58%.