Music group pulled content amid row over issues such as deepfake AI-generated music and artists’ compensation
TikTok and Universal Music Group have reached a deal that will allow songs and artists from its labels including Olivia Rodrigo and Drake to return to the video-sharing app.
The world’s largest music company began pulling content from TikTok in February after falling out with it over issues including artist compensation and the use of artificial intelligence-generated music on the platform.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the companies said they were working “expeditiously” to return music by UMG’s artists to TikTok. The deal pledges to tackle concerns about generative AI – technology that produces highly convincing audio, image and text from simple hand-typed prompts – with TikTok saying it would work with Universal to remove unauthorised AI-made content.
“TikTok and UMG will work together to ensure AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters,” the companies said.
One of the earliest examples of deepfake AI-generated music featured two Universal artists, Drake and the Weeknd, and was called Heart on My Sleeve. Released in April last year, it was pulled from TikTok, Spotify and YouTube, with Universal warning at the time that unapproved AI-generated music was “denying artists their due compensation”.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/02/universal-signs-tiktok-deal-allowing-artists-back-on-platformRead the full story (Source: The Guardian)
