Some songs that Taylor Swift fans know “All Too Well” returned to TikTok on Thursday months after being removed.
The artist’s songs were among the many tracks pulled off of TikTok by Universal Music Group after the label and the platform failed to reach an agreement earlier this year. (UMG has no relationship to NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News).
Many videos using Swift’s popular hits, like “Anti-Hero” and “Cruel Summer,” remained on the platform but played no music when viewed. But, as of Thursday, several videos featuring Swift’s songs had the audio restored — including videos previously muted on Swift’s own account.
A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neither TikTok nor UMG responded to requests for comment regarding some of the artist’s songs returning.
Songs from other popular UMG artists, such as Drake and Olivia Rodrigo, appeared to still be unavailable as of Thursday afternoon. Some videos on Swift’s account featuring other UMG artists, like Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’,” are also still silent.
UMG, known as one of the “Big Three” global music companies, cleared its music from TikTok in late January, saying it was doing so because of a lack of compensation for artists and songwriters.
The Dutch-American company’s licensed artists include The Beatles, Elton John, Bob Dylan, U2, Ariana Grande, SZA, Billie Eilish, Adele, Coldplay and many more.
“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay,” UMG said in a statement at the time.
TikTok fired back at UMG, accusing the company of putting “their own greed above the interests of artists and songwriters.”
TikTok has an estimated 1.5 billion monthly users, who utilize music on the platform to enhance their videos. Around 60% of TikTok videos include music. The social media platform has become a crucial part of the music industry ecosystem, and some recent stars have risen to fame thanks to viral hits on the app.
When Swift’s music was no longer available on the platform, some Swifties began uploading covers of their favorite songs in her catalog for others to use.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
