UMG and TikTok sign multi-year global licensing deal with AI removal terms

What the deal covers

The agreement expands marketing and advertising campaigns and gives UMG artists access to ecommerce and other artist-centric tools, UMG said. It also includes provisions for "AI protections that promote human artistry" and for improving artist and songwriter attribution, according to the companies. UMG said the protections are meant to ensure platform economics effectively flow through to artists and songwriters. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the announcement described the term only as multi-year.

The deal builds on the partnership the two companies announced in 2024, Billboard reported. That partnership ended a standoff after UMG's previous agreement expired in January 2024. UMG pulled its catalogue from TikTok for the first three months of that year, and publishing repertoire came down as well. Music Week reported that the publishing removals also affected artists signed to non-UMG labels who collaborate with UMPG songwriters. UMPG told its songwriters during the 2024 dispute that TikTok had "not agreed to recognise the fair value of your songs" and said the talks also covered protecting songwriters from AI and online safety for users.

Why AI became the sticking point

On Billboard's On the Record podcast in January, UMG chief digital officer Michael Nash said TikTok had proposed paying AI-generated content on the same basis as artists' music. "It would dilute the artists' royalty pool," he said. Nash said the 2024 settlement produced "anti-dilution" protections, meaning UMG royalties would not be diluted by pure AI content. The new agreement extends TikTok and UMG's "commitment to AI protections that promote human artistry," according to Billboard's account of the release.

Startup Fortune said the dispute's issues have "moved from complaint letter to contract language." It said UMG is trying to close the gap around unlicensed AI music by "making permission the starting point," and that AI music should be "licensed, tracked, attributed and paid for before it reaches scale."

How removal could work

The public announcement does not spell out every enforcement mechanism, Startup Fortune reported. Detection is hard when AI audio can be slightly altered, layered under video, sped up, remixed or uploaded through different accounts, the outlet said. TikTok's distribution service SoundOn has reportedly been using detection technology from ACRCloud to identify unauthorized or manipulated tracks before wider distribution. Startup Fortune said false positives can hurt legitimate creators, while false negatives can leave labels arguing the platform is not doing enough.

Billboard reported that licensing agreements between music companies and tech platforms typically last about two to three years. UMG and TikTok described their deal only as multi-year and did not disclose its exact length.

What the companies said

Nash said: "We're proud of the pioneering work we've done with TikTok to create wide-ranging benefits for our artists and songwriters. With this new agreement, we look forward to driving innovative new fan experiences, while further improving social media monetization, and protecting and amplifying human artistry."

Tracy Gardner, TikTok's global head of music business development, said the agreement "will help create even more opportunities for artists and songwriters to engage audiences, grow their communities and achieve career success on a global scale."