Muni Long Makes TikTok Pointing Out How Her Label UMG’s Ban Makes No Sense
The song in question was most likely “Made for Me,” a slow-burning R&B track that went viral on social media. Billboard reports that the 2023 record was sitting at No. 2 on the relatively new TikTok Top 50 chart as of Wednesday, the same day UMG and TikTok’s licensing deal expired.
35-year-old Muni shed more light on the situation in the captions: “I mean it’s not like they are refusing to support my music until I prove that it’s valuable by investing my own money and possibly lucking up on a hot TikTok trend or anything like that. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. … My therapist not answering again 😵💫.”
The post has racked up 1.4 million views in a day.
UMG confirmed it would pull all of its music from TikTok after the companies failed to reach a new agreement. The label acknowledged that TikTok is an effective tool for highlighting lesser-known artists, but said contract negotiations fell flat as they pressed TikTok on three main issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
“With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, 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 wrote in an open letter. “… As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth. How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.”
UMG’s talent roster includes some of the biggest names in music, such as Drake, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish.
TikTok called the development “sad and disappointing,” and accused UMG of distorting the truth.
“Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent,” the company wrote in a statement. “TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.”
