Taylor Swift’s Music Returns To TikTok Despite Ongoing UMG Dispute
Back in February, Universal Music Group pulled its entire catalog (and those of its publishing arm) off of TikTok in a dispute over adequate compensation for its artists and songwriters. For the most part, the music affiliated with UMG has yet to return to the social media app, though there have been periodic exceptions to that rule over the last couple of months, as new songs by Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, and Niall Horan found their way onto the service.
This week, Taylor Swift’s music has returned to TikTok ahead of the release of her new album The Tortured Poets Department, which is out on April 19. As Variety reports, many of Swift’s songs have reappeared on the app over the past day or so. Though Swift has a publishing deal with UMG — and Republic, the label she’s signed to, is distributed by the company — Swift owns her masters, and Variety speculates that Swift potentially reached a deal with TikTok on her own.
Representatives for Swift, UMG, and TikTok have not responded to Swift’s reappearance on the app.
Meanwhile, track lengths have dropped for Swift’s upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department:
https://twitter.com/SwiftNYC/status/1778469012143284417