Songs by several artists licensed to UMG, including Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Drake, BTS and Billie Eilish, have been removed|Justin Higuchi|CC BY 2.0

A music licensing feud between Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok has led the social media platform to remove all music by artists licensed to the group, including Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Drake, BTS and Billie Eilish.

TikTok began the move, affecting the app’s nearly 1.4 billion users, on January 31. The removal also includes muting videos containing UMG-licensed music.

Why?
UMG alleges Chinese ByteDance-owned TikTok is paying “only a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay.” It accuses the social media app of allowing users’ feeds to be “flooded with AI-generated recordings.”

TikTok responded by accusing UMG of promoting false narratives and prioritizing greed over the interests of artists and songwriters.