Earlier this year, Universal Music Group (UMG) and popular video-sharing app Triller got into a public dispute regarding the lack of payments to UMG’s artists. This past Thursday, both companies finally reached an agreement that seemingly has smoothed things over and helped artists in the longterm.
Going off of both companies claims, the information gathered is as follows:
Triller and UMG had previously worked out a licensing deal which expired at the end of 2020. UMG temporarily extended this deal into 2021 until they believed that Triller had no intention of renewing it.
UMG pulled its catalog from the app, apparently blindsiding Triller, who claimed they weren’t warned prior, and found out only through press.
Shortly after, Triller then took a new position publicly claiming that they do not need a deal with UMG. Triller claimed that relevant artists are already shareholders or partners on the platform and can authorize Triller’s usage directly.
Triller also denied that they ever withheld any artist payments stating, “if anything, it is UMG using their artist names as a front to extract ridiculous and non-sustainable payments for themselves and not their artists. [They] did this exact same thing to TikTok for two years and virtually every other social network.”
With both sides contradicting each other, it had been unclear what deal was actually made between Triller and UMG.
Up until a few days ago, it was also unclear how this dispute would end.
UMG executive Jonathan Dworkin recently stated, “We’re pleased to have a deal with Triller that embraces the importance of compensating our artists, especially given the tremendous value music generates across the platform.”
This agreement allows users of Triller to have access to songs by UMG artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and many more. This agreement includes UMG’s full music catalog from its more than 100 record labels, as well as all artists and songwriters signed to Universal Music Publishing Group.
Triller Chairman Bobby Sarnevesht states, “Triller has become one of the most important platforms in music today, and these agreements ensure that artists and songwriters across Universal Music Group have full access to the global Triller ecosystem.”
Triller was certainly hurting during the period of dispute due to it being so music focused and UMG owning one of the largest catalogs of music.
With popular competition like TikTok and IG Reels taking over impressive portions of digital marketshare, it was important for these companies to reach an agreement. Both Triller and UMG’s artists will benefit greatly from this deal and users will be able to use a bunch of their favorite songs again.
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