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TikTok logo in Berlin

Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP

Music by artists like Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga could disappear from the video app TikTok from Thursday. The world's largest music company Universal Music announced on Tuesday that it had not been able to agree on an extension of the license agreement, which expires on January 31st.

TikTok only offered musicians and songwriters “a fraction” of the remuneration usual on other online platforms, Universal Music argued in an open letter. TikTok also allows music created on a large scale with the help of artificial intelligence onto the platform - and wants contractual freedom for this. In this way, the service is actually driving forward “the replacement of artists with AI”.

Universal Music also criticizes that TikTok hardly takes action against piracy and has an inefficient process for removing problematic content such as fake pornographic images of artists. Such pictures of Universal star Taylor Swift were circulated just last week. There was initially no reaction from TikTok to the allegations.

Decision has consequences for both sides

The exit of Universal Music could be a significant blow for TikTok: many videos on the platform have musical accompaniment and the company has many of the world's most popular musicians under contract. Universal Music admitted that the move would have consequences for its own musicians. However, we have a responsibility to fight for fair conditions for them.

TikTok has more than a billion users and is the only successful online platform in the West that does not come from the USA. The service belongs to the Bytedance Group, which comes from China. However, the company always emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company. ByteDance is 60 percent owned by Western investors. The company headquarters are on the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Critics counter that the Chinese founders, with a share of 20 percent, maintained control thanks to higher voting rights and that ByteDance has a large headquarters in Beijing.

jok/dpa