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Everybody on Mute: Why TikTok Doesn't Need Music Anymore · Mini Scroll

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  On January 30th, 2024, Universal Music Group UMG published A
• 0:33
  scathing open letter on its website.
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  The letter accused social. Media behemoth TikTok of
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  threatening and intimidating UMG during contract negotiations for
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  music. Licensing rights the letter.
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  Claims. That TikTok success was built in
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  large part. Due to the music.
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  Produced by UMG Artists and. Songwriters, given that UMG
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  controls approximately 1/3 of the world's music and represents
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  some of the industry's most. Prolific artists like Taylor.
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  Swift, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, and Olivia Rodrigo.
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  This claim is not entirely baseless.
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  The company said it went to TikTok with three major issues
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  to negotiate in its contract. One artist compensation.
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  Two the rise of. AI generated music available and
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  encouraged on TikTok and. Three the safety of.
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  Users on the app the platform did not budget, instead UMG.
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  Alleged that TikTok. Attempted to bully the music
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  giant by offering a deal worth less than their previous
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  agreement and by removing music from some of Umgs developing
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  artists quote. TikTok tactics are obvious, the
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  letter reads. Use this platform.
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  Power to hurt, vulnerable. Artists and try to intimidate us
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  into conceding. To a bad deal.
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  That undervalues music and shortchanges artists and
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  songwriters as well as their fans.
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  But taking this dispute? Public didn't turn out to be the
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  move. That UMG thought it would be.
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  People didn't like that UMGA company worth over. 50 billion
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  USD positioned itself as the underdog this letter.
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  Felt like an attempt to gain public sympathy, to manipulate.
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  TikTok right back. Putting.
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  Everyday users in the. Middle of a contract
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  disagreement between 2 multibillion dollar corporations
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  that. Both have a history of putting
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  profits over artists best interests.
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  And no matter how strong UM GS points were, they were always
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  going to be fighting a losing battle.
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  Tiktok. Had built the most.
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  Powerful music discovery. Platform of our time and they
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  were not backing down in response to UM GS 840.
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  Two word open letter, Tiktok responded.
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  With four sentences quote, it is sad and disappointing that
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  Universal Music Group has put their own.
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  Greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.
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  Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric.
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  The fact is, they have chosen to.
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  Walk away from the powerful. Support of a platform with.
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  Well, over a billion. Users that serves as a free.
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  Promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent, TikTok
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  has been able. To reach artists first.
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  Agreements with. Every other label and publisher.
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  Clearly. Universal, self-serving actions.
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  Are not in the best interest of artists, songwriters and fans.
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  On January 31st, 2024, Universal Music Group removed its catalog
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  from the app from Centennial World.
• 3:16
  I'm Lauren Meisner, and this is Infinite.
• 3:18
  Scroll a podcast. About Internet culture, the
• 3:21
  creator economy, and how social media is shaping Gen.
• 3:25
  Z. Welcome back to Infinite Scroll.
• 3:29
  All right, so I. Do want to start giving a?
• 3:32
  Few more personal updates. In the middle of.
• 3:35
  These deep dives I. Know you guys are missing that,
• 3:38
  I know that. Was a huge reason that a.
• 3:40
  Lot of you listened to the podcast before was, you know,
• 3:44
  kind of for our banter and our updates and things like that,
• 3:48
  and I definitely want to start bringing a bit of that.
• 3:50
  Back I will say that the. Solution that I have to viral
• 3:55
  news on Tuesdays. It's not going to be.
• 3:57
  Exactly the same, of course. But when I do bring that back,
• 4:01
  that will be much less formal. It'll be chattier, more
• 4:06
  conversational. So you will get.
• 4:07
  That, but in the meantime, until that's ready.
• 4:10
  I. Did want to address some of the
• 4:13
  messages? That I've received, obviously.
• 4:16
  I I kind of touched on last week that you guys have been so
• 4:19
  supportive and amazing and. I just feel so.
• 4:22
  Lucky to have an audience that is sticking with me through this
• 4:25
  transition and kind of these growing pains here, but I have
• 4:29
  received a lot of messages, just like asking how I am and
• 4:33
  checking in. Which is so sweet.
• 4:36
  So I actually think jump scare I might.
• 4:41
  Post a YouTube video. On my old channel, talking about
• 4:46
  kind of my life and the last. Six weeks and what?
• 4:49
  It's been like and. The direction of things for me.
• 4:53
  I don't know. It's still something that's in
• 4:55
  the works. If you guys want that, let me
• 4:57
  know for sure. Like just slide into my DMS,
• 4:59
  message me, let me know. I do miss that conversational
• 5:04
  aspect. With you guys these deep dives.
• 5:07
  It was important for me to script them and I don't regret
• 5:10
  that at all. It's been significantly more
• 5:12
  work. I did not expect that.
• 5:15
  But I knew. I had to script.
• 5:16
  Things If I was going to do deep dives alone, as I've said many
• 5:20
  times, I don't consider myself a natural podcaster.
• 5:23
  I'm a much better writer than I am a.
• 5:26
  Speaker A talker. I guess on my.
• 5:28
  Feet, So I knew. Without having somebody to
• 5:32
  bounce ideas off of and conversation.
• 5:34
  Off of for these deep. Dives.
• 5:36
  It was important that I had. It all scripted.
• 5:37
  But of course that changes the dynamic, that changes our.
• 5:40
  Relationship a little. Bit and I don't want to lose
• 5:43
  kind of that. Parasocial relationship with
• 5:45
  you. Guys, but yes, in terms of how
• 5:47
  I'm feeling, you know, it's been really rough.
• 5:51
  I know I haven't really shared anything.
• 5:53
  About what It's. Been like for me.
• 5:56
  These past six weeks. But I.
• 5:59
  Can. Honestly say it has been
• 6:02
  probably the hardest. Six weeks of my life.
• 6:04
  And I know that sounds really dramatic and I'm aware that that
• 6:07
  is pretty dramatic. You know, nothing is actually
• 6:10
  wrong, thankfully, but yeah, mental health wise, it's been a.
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  Huge struggle. For me, I haven't really been
• 6:20
  sleeping. I've had.
• 6:21
  Really, really bad. Insomnia I've had horrific, like
• 6:25
  stress and anxiety. I went through a.
• 6:27
  Period. Where I wasn't really able to
• 6:29
  eat which. Just does not happen to me like
• 6:31
  I'm just such an eater and you guys know I'm so.
• 6:34
  Obsessed with the gym? And that's completely.
• 6:37
  Fallen off? Like I just.
• 6:39
  I didn't expect this transition to.
• 6:41
  Impact me so much. So I I.
• 6:44
  Know that, you guys. Can also tell like I know.
• 6:46
  That in the episodes, the energy that I'm bringing and I know
• 6:49
  just like even on social media, not that I think a lot of you
• 6:52
  guys follow me for like my Instagram and stuff, but you
• 6:54
  know, like I'm not really posting and stuff and some of
• 6:57
  you have messaged me, you know, checking in and mentioning that
• 6:59
  and that's. Basically why I just I.
• 7:02
  Don't know. I feel like I'm kind of living
• 7:04
  in like a fog, like a like a Daydream everyday.
• 7:07
  I'm just trying to like get. Through.
• 7:09
  And I know this will pass and I'm starting to hire for some
• 7:12
  roles within the business which I think will really help me.
• 7:16
  But I am I. Guess just burnt out.
• 7:20
  Like I I guess that this is probably.
• 7:21
  What proper burnout feels like? Like completely unable to sleep,
• 7:25
  having to nap during the day, Like unable to get work done at
• 7:29
  the times when I need to get it done, which has never been an
• 7:31
  issue for me, honestly. Thank God.
• 7:34
  For the people. Around me I feel.
• 7:36
  So supported. You know, my husband, my
• 7:39
  parents, my parents are always message messaging me like, Oh my
• 7:42
  God, we believe in you. Keep going.
• 7:44
  We're so. Excited to see what you do?
• 7:45
  They're so. Sweet.
• 7:46
  You know, all of my friends are always checking in.
• 7:48
  And thank God for Crystal and Annabelle.
• 7:52
  Both of them have made it so that, like, the business can
• 7:55
  keep going. Annabelle, of course.
• 7:57
  At a practical level, she is like truly.
• 8:00
  Keeping the business going. She is the one that's behind the
• 8:03
  scenes, you know, writing the content, coming up with plans
• 8:07
  like she's coming to me. I know she listens to this.
• 8:09
  She's going to like, die when she hears me talking like this.
• 8:12
  But you know, she's the one that's coming to me when she can
• 8:15
  tell I'm struggling and she's like.
• 8:16
  Okay. Here's the plan.
• 8:19
  We're not going to be able. To get all of.
• 8:20
  This done this week, so why don't?
• 8:22
  We do XYZ to make. It so that we're you know,
• 8:25
  working smarter instead of harder and things like.
• 8:27
  That like, she's really. Taken some ownership and some
• 8:30
  control over the content side of the business in this transition
• 8:35
  period which has been just so life saving and crystal.
• 8:38
  Of course she doesn't work directly with me, but it kind of
• 8:41
  feels. Like she does and she is just.
• 8:44
  Constantly giving me advice. I'm bouncing every single.
• 8:47
  Idea off of her She's been so. Amazing and helpful in this.
• 8:52
  Process, so I have a lot of support which is great.
• 8:55
  And. Yes, I will of course get
• 8:58
  through this, but that is why I know you guys.
• 9:02
  Can tell the energy. Has been a bit.
• 9:03
  Different and yeah, I just genuinely have been really
• 9:06
  struggling. But anyways on that note.
• 9:10
  As always. Please remember to write, review
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  and subscribe. It helps me so much.
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  It helps his podcast grow. It helps.
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  Them NTH. All of that.
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  And please sign up to our newsletter, also called Infinite
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  Called Infinite Scroll or you. Can chat with other people who
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  are also. Obsessed with Internet culture
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  and creator drama and tea? And you can chat with me, So I
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  just wanted to read one quick review that I got from This week
• 9:47
  from. Alicia, who wrote your back?
• 9:50
  Yay, missed the pod. You've got this, Lauren.
• 9:53
  Thank you. To understand how TikTok found
• 9:56
  itself in a power struggle with the biggest music conglomerate
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  in the world, we first need to look at how the platform became
• 10:02
  so influential in music discovery in the 1st place.
• 10:06
  And for that, let's rewind a decade.
• 10:08
  In 2014, Alex Hsu and Louis Yang were product managers working at
• 10:12
  an insurance technology company in Shanghai.
• 10:15
  The two had the. Idea to build an educational
• 10:17
  platform where users could learn about different concepts and
• 10:20
  topics in a short form video format biz, Carson writes for
• 10:24
  Business Insider. Quote The idea was that experts,
• 10:27
  whether for coffee or calculus, could create short.
• 10:30
  Three to five minute videos explaining a subject.
• 10:34
  The two raised. 250,000 USD to build and launch the app.
• 10:39
  Six months later, Zhu and Yang realized they were in trouble.
• 10:42
  The app wasn't getting enough traffic and the content was, to
• 10:46
  put it frankly, boring. Quote lesson.
• 10:49
  Planners had a hard time condensing their expertise into
• 10:51
  3 minutes. Content creation and consumption
• 10:55
  needed to be within minutes and seconds, not hours.
• 10:58
  It wasn't entertaining, and it didn't attract teens.
• 11:02
  Zhu and Yang had to. Pivot for the platform.
• 11:04
  To succeed in an interview with. Forbes, Zhu.
• 11:06
  Explains what prompted the shift toward music.
• 11:09
  While on a train with just $20,000 of runway left, he
• 11:14
  noticed that quote. 50% of teens were listening to music and the
• 11:18
  other 50% were taking photos and videos with their speaker on top
• 11:22
  to add music. This prompted Zhu and Yang to
• 11:25
  find a way to combine music, social media and video.
• 11:28
  And so, musically was born. They pivoted from education to
• 11:32
  entertainment that same year. And then something somewhat
• 11:35
  serendipitous happened. The.
• 11:37
  American reality show Lip. Sync Battle started airing.
• 11:40
  So the term lip. Sync was trending on the App
• 11:42
  Store. The founders decided to
• 11:44
  capitalize on this. Quote after the show.
• 11:47
  People use lip sync as a. Keyword to search.
• 11:49
  On the app. Store Zoo told Forbes.
• 11:51
  We decided we should. Highlight lip sync as a primary.
• 11:54
  Use case for the. App to make it even more
• 11:56
  compelling for our teens and made some major design changes
• 12:00
  By July 2016. Musically hit #1 on the App
• 12:04
  Store, achieving mainstream success in the United States and
• 12:07
  beyond, peaking around 2016. Musically became known for lip
• 12:11
  syncing and dancing videos created in a very.
• 12:13
  Specific, fast-paced, jerky style God to migraine.
• 12:17
  And my pain will bring from up, down and sideways.
• 12:19
  Thank God it's my day. Because my days will always be
• 12:22
  better than Sundays. Because Sundays I'm a.
• 12:24
  Suicide Days, Some of the most. Popular creators, or as they
• 12:26
  were called Musers. On the app included.
• 12:29
  Baby Ariel Jacob Sartorius. And Lauren Gray, what made
• 12:33
  musically? So successful was the gap it.
• 12:36
  Filled in social media. Before this, platforms didn't
• 12:39
  really have access. To mainstream or copyrighted?
• 12:42
  Music. For reference, Instagram only
• 12:45
  added music to Stories in June 2018, just over a year after
• 12:49
  hitting number one in the. App Store the wall.
• 12:51
  Street Journal reported in November 2017 that Musically was
• 12:55
  to be. Acquired by the.
• 12:56
  Chinese tech conglomerate Bike Dance for as much as $1 billion
• 13:02
  at the time, Musically had around 100 million users.
• 13:06
  At the beginning of August 2018, Musically officially merged with
• 13:09
  TikTok under Bytedance. Bytedance launched an app called
• 13:13
  Duyan in 2016, which was essentially a clone of Musically
• 13:17
  for Chinese users. The company later launched Tik.
• 13:21
  T.O.K which was available for users outside.
• 13:23
  Of China upon the acquisition of musically all.
• 13:26
  Musically, users were. Migrated over to their new
• 13:29
  TikTok accounts. Now there are conflicting.
• 13:32
  Reports over whether. TikTok was its own app before
• 13:35
  the merger. Some publications have
• 13:37
  positioned Tik. T.O.K as the result.
• 13:39
  Of Bytedance's acquisition, but according to a statement from
• 13:42
  the TikTok newsroom on August 1st, 2018, it seems that.
• 13:46
  TikTok. Was a stand alone app and was
• 13:49
  separate from doing in before the acquisition.
• 13:52
  Quote Today it was announced that 2.
• 13:54
  Of the world's. Fastest growing short form video
• 13:56
  apps Musically and TikTok will unite to create a new global
• 13:59
  app. The newly upgraded platform.
• 14:02
  Which keeps the TikTok name creates a.
• 14:04
  Unified user. Experience debuts, a new logo
• 14:07
  and user interface, and offers. Greater capabilities for video.
• 14:11
  Creation by bringing together the best of TikTok and musically
• 14:15
  TikTok now becomes the world's number one.
• 14:17
  Go to destination for short form video content creation and
• 14:20
  consumption, a statement from August 1st, 2018 on Tik Tok's
• 14:25
  newsroom reads. According to Tech Crunch, TikTok
• 14:28
  had around 500 million monthly active users at the time of the
• 14:32
  merger. Now to understand Tik Tok's
• 14:34
  position in the market, it's. Important to look at.
• 14:36
  Why Bytedance acquired musically According to the New York Times,
• 14:41
  this acquisition was part of a greater strategy to expand
• 14:44
  beyond the Chinese market and go global, as Paul Moser writes
• 14:48
  quote by integrating. Musically as global reach.
• 14:51
  With Bytedance's massive user base in China and key Asian
• 14:54
  markets, we are creating a significant global platform for
• 14:58
  our content creators and brands to engage with new markets.
• 15:01
  With that in mind, TikTok wasn't.
• 15:03
  Necessarily created to. Become a music sharing platform.
• 15:07
  It was something more of an accident.
• 15:09
  Musically, never intended to be a music.
• 15:11
  First app. But rather an educational one
• 15:14
  and the musically. TikTok merger was.
• 15:16
  Seemingly A strategic way for Bytedance to expand its.
• 15:19
  User base and convert. Users across different
• 15:21
  platforms. Bytedance's decision to rebrand
• 15:24
  musically. To TikTok also.
• 15:25
  Suggests that music wasn't necessarily the.
• 15:27
  Focus of the platform, but rather short.
• 15:30
  Form content, hence the Clock branding reporting by Demi Lee
• 15:34
  for The Verge at the time of this merger.
• 15:36
  Further proves this theory. Writing quote TikTok will be
• 15:40
  missing an essential part of the musically history which was
• 15:43
  built on teens lip syncing and dancing to music.
• 15:47
  All the features to make. Karaoke videos are still.
• 15:49
  There, but rebranding the app with a new name and forcing the
• 15:52
  old Musically users to migrate to a new platform is a move that
• 15:56
  may alienate the original community.
• 15:59
  With this, we can see there was an assumption at the time that
• 16:01
  TikTok would not. Fill the gap of.
• 16:04
  Lip syncing and dancing content that musically was leaving
• 16:07
  behind. While TikTok may have not
• 16:09
  intended to become a music discovery platform, it quickly
• 16:13
  became one of the most. Popular ways to.
• 16:14
  Discover new music for Gen. Z.
• 16:16
  There are a few reasons for this.
• 16:18
  Number one. The popularity of Tik.
• 16:20
  T.O.K dances coincided. With the app's rise to.
• 16:23
  Success When TikTok hit the mainstream in 2020, the most
• 16:26
  popular videos on the app were dance videos and the most
• 16:29
  popular. Creators were TikTok dancers
• 16:32
  like Charlie d'amelio. And Addison Ray.
• 16:34
  So for me, I actually had like the one video to go viral that
• 16:38
  kind of started all it was. It was a duet of this woman move
• 16:43
  with joy, who makes easy dances and it's her voice speaking and
• 16:46
  you just copy whatever she says. So I do edit the video that she
• 16:49
  did. And it was just like step, step,
• 16:51
  hip, hip, like stuff like that. Very simple.
• 16:54
  It was like 8 moves it got up to before I walked in dance class.
• 17:00
  It was about 50,000. I was like, that's it, I'm
• 17:02
  famous, don't talk to me. Of course, Renegade is one of
• 17:06
  the most iconic examples of this.
• 17:21
  The Renegade dance set to K Camp Song Lottery skyrocketed Charlie
• 17:26
  D'amelio to TikTok fame. Though she didn't actually
• 17:28
  choreograph the dance, then 14 year old Julia Harmon created
• 17:32
  it. At the time of recording, the
• 17:34
  song Lottery by K Camp has almost 14,000,000 TikTok videos
• 17:38
  posted under the audio. These dances became popular on
• 17:41
  TikTok. Because they were, largely.
• 17:42
  Accessible to the average person, the majority of dances
• 17:45
  were dominated by hand movements, making it easier for
• 17:48
  non dancers to join in on the trend, Margaret Furr writes for
• 17:52
  the New York Times. Quote dance has defined TikTok
• 17:55
  since it arrived on the international scene in 2017.
• 17:58
  The platforms forced vertical orientation and one minute time
• 18:02
  limit helped give rise to a building block collection of.
• 18:05
  Basic tight, upright steps. That the average person could
• 18:08
  learn and replicate. Since then a number of dance
• 18:11
  subcultures have formed and some cater to more advanced dancers.
• 18:16
  Quote Even when you have a professional dancer doing.
• 18:18
  High level choreography. They're doing it in their
• 18:20
  bedroom, maybe in their pajamas. It's the special kind of access
• 18:24
  and it feels particularly intimate when you know that 20
• 18:27
  minutes from now they could be on stage doing very similar.
• 18:31
  Stuff as dances. Have become heavily associated
• 18:34
  with TikTok. It's open the door for music to
• 18:36
  take center stage on the platform.
• 18:38
  The second reason that TikTok turned into a music.
• 18:41
  Discovery. App is the nature.
• 18:43
  Of the for you. Page now.
• 18:45
  We have discussed. The nature of the For You page
• 18:47
  on this podcast so many times, so I don't want to regurgitate
• 18:51
  the same messaging too much. But with.
• 18:54
  Users more inclined to. Scroll the for you page rather.
• 18:57
  Than their following tab. It's easier to come.
• 18:59
  Across new creators or musicians for the first time.
• 19:02
  And the third reason that TikTok has turned into a music.
• 19:05
  Discovery app is the. Culture on the platform has
• 19:07
  become less about putting out original content and more about
• 19:12
  putting your own spin on someone else's content the app was
• 19:16
  designed with. Features like Duet and.
• 19:18
  Stitch. Which enable users to easily
• 19:20
  engage with the creator. 'S content by creating their own
• 19:23
  content about that content, this encourages piggybacking on ideas
• 19:29
  or trends and makes it much easier to share on the platform,
• 19:32
  as creators don't necessarily need to be unique.
• 19:35
  The Culture on Tiktok. Is more about collective.
• 19:37
  Creating When it comes to how this impacts music, Ryan
• 19:41
  Broderick shared this. Thought quote.
• 19:43
  Tiktok's biggest impact is not just on music, but the
• 19:46
  unprecedented open. Flow of audio file.
• 19:49
  Sharing. We've honestly never had a
• 19:51
  platform be this big and allow this much remixable audio.
• 19:55
  Also most. TikTok users still use audio
• 19:57
  files. As a sort of hyperlink between
• 20:00
  different content on the app, it's an important discovery tool
• 20:04
  aside from these theories outlined.
• 20:06
  There is concrete evidence to. Support that tik.
• 20:08
  T.O.K now plays a major role in music discovery, according to
• 20:11
  Tik Tok's Music Impact Report from 2023.
• 20:14
  The short form video. App Quote fuels music discovery
• 20:18
  The Music Impact report was commissioned by TikTok and
• 20:20
  created by research firm Luminate.
• 20:23
  Collected data from TikTok users from the USUK, Indonesia,
• 20:27
  Germany and Brazil between Q 3/20/22 and Q 3/20/23.
• 20:32
  Some of the key findings for TikTok users include in the.
• 20:36
  US TikTok. Users are two times more likely
• 20:38
  to discover new music than other social media.
• 20:41
  Users or short? Form video consumers and two in
• 20:44
  the US 62%. Of TikTok users.
• 20:47
  Pay for a music streaming service compared to 43% of
• 20:50
  consumers overall, given Tik Tok's influence in music
• 20:54
  discovery. The platform has, of course.
• 20:56
  Also become a launchpad for many of today's.
• 20:59
  Popular artists. Elevating local talent to
• 21:02
  worldwide fame, Doja CAD is arguably the most prominent
• 21:05
  example of this. Having posted on SoundCloud
• 21:08
  since the early twenty 10s, Doja CAD had an online following
• 21:11
  before blowing up on TikTok. But it was Tik.
• 21:14
  T.O.K Virality and the success of her single.
• 21:16
  Say so that skyrocketed. Her into the mainstream say so
• 21:28
  found so much success largely thanks to creator.
• 21:31
  Haley Sharp, who created a viral.
• 21:33
  Tick tock dance to the song in December 2019.
• 21:37
  Haley was a 17 year old competitive dancer.
• 21:39
  Who had a large? Following of over 1,000,000 at
• 21:42
  the time when she choreographed the dance, Haley's existing
• 21:45
  platform helped catapult the dance and thus the song.
• 21:48
  To TikTok virality. With many of the major TikTok
• 21:50
  dancers at the time, like Charlie D'amelio and Addison
• 21:53
  Ray, recreating her choreography, But Say So's
• 21:56
  mainstream success wasn't all down to Tik.
• 21:59
  T.O.K. As the song blew up online, Doja
• 22:02
  Cat lent in before artist Leaning into TikTok was even a
• 22:05
  thing. She actually cast.
• 22:07
  Haley in the music. Video for Say so.
• 22:10
  And together Doja and Haley. Did the viral say so, Tik?
• 22:13
  T.O.K dance in the music video fans were.
• 22:15
  Obsessed with this collaboration as a result?
• 22:19
  The song became Doja's first platinum and multi platinum
• 22:23
  single and by the end of the. Year say so.
• 22:25
  Was the 10th most streamed song in the.
• 22:28
  US with five. 162,000,000 on demand streams proving to
• 22:33
  artists and. Executives everywhere, The Power
• 22:36
  of TikTok. Marketing for the music
• 22:38
  industry. By 2021, the impact of TikTok in
• 22:41
  the music industry was undeniable.
• 22:43
  Tik Tok's user base had. Reached over 1 billion monthly
• 22:47
  active users, and the app had already turned out several.
• 22:50
  Artists who? Broke into the mainstream like
• 22:52
  Main Skin, Pink Pantheris and Coil Array, but it was the 2021
• 22:56
  Grammys. That really solidified the
• 22:58
  platform's influence. Over popular music, as Jordan
• 23:01
  Christensen writes for Centennial World quote of the
• 23:04
  nominations winners and those asked to perform each had a
• 23:08
  significant moment of virality on the app in the last 12
• 23:11
  months. Dua Lipa, who beat out the likes
• 23:13
  of Taylor Swift. Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and
• 23:16
  Harry. Styles for best pop.
• 23:18
  Vocal album with future nostalgia saw almost 4 million
• 23:22
  views made with the 15 second clip of her song Don't Start
• 23:25
  Now, a number which well exceeds the 1.3 million streams it has
• 23:30
  on Spotify. Similarly, Harry Styles, a
• 23:33
  seemingly obvious choice for the opening and longest performance
• 23:36
  slot of the show, may not have seemed so obvious 12 months ago.
• 23:39
  Beloved by Jen Zedd, Harry Styles found his feet for his
• 23:42
  second studio album Fine Line, but not without The Help.
• 23:46
  Of the hordes of. Fans present on the video
• 23:48
  sharing platform, it is interesting to consider that in
• 23:51
  almost every popular music category, the winner was crowned
• 23:55
  by Tik. T.O.K first.
• 23:57
  By then it was clear that TikTok now dominated how people
• 24:00
  discovered music and new artists, and this shift was now
• 24:03
  heavily impacting the corporate music scene.
• 24:06
  As a result, artists. Started getting.
• 24:08
  Pressured by their labels. To become a quasi content
• 24:10
  creators as well to promote their music on TikTok.
• 24:13
  This self. Promotion is something that many
• 24:15
  artists have spoken out against, artist and producer Mike Barnett
• 24:19
  told journalist Ali Dever. Quote.
• 24:21
  Record labels used to. Be far more involved in the
• 24:24
  development and promotion of artists.
• 24:26
  Social media has allowed them to pass the buck and put much of
• 24:29
  the burden of promotion onto the artists themselves.
• 24:32
  Most labels, major or indie, don't even think about signing
• 24:36
  an artist who doesn't already have big numbers on their social
• 24:39
  and streaming platforms. And it's not just up and coming
• 24:42
  artists who feel. The TikTok pressure.
• 24:45
  Mainstream names like Halsey and Charli XEX.
• 24:48
  Have posted. Videos expressing frustration at
• 24:50
  being asked to make. Videos by their labels.
• 24:52
  While trying to balance touring, writing and recording music.
• 24:56
  Artists are also reportedly. Pressured now to write?
• 24:58
  Shorter. Snappier Songs to Suit Tiktok
• 25:00
  Virality The tiktokification of music is a hot button.
• 25:04
  Topic it. Seems that music industry
• 25:06
  insiders and fans alike consider the shift as a net negative for
• 25:10
  music. But I would argue that Tiktok
• 25:13
  is. Getting a bad rap here.
• 25:15
  Because before TikTok popular music.
• 25:17
  Was designed for the radio, and then it was designed for music
• 25:21
  video programs like MTV, and then it was designed for
• 25:23
  streaming services. The evolution of how music is
• 25:27
  discovered and consumed by youth culture has been ever changing
• 25:30
  over the past two. Decades.
• 25:32
  And those creating music. Have had to adapt.
• 25:34
  To that When popular music of the 20 Tens was sweeping the
• 25:38
  Grammys, for example, we didn't say, oh, the Grammys are just
• 25:42
  commercial radio music now. But today, one of the biggest
• 25:45
  criticisms of the Grammys is that.
• 25:47
  It's all just. TikTok Music.
• 25:49
  Now, in a similar vein, it's also worth considering if TikTok
• 25:53
  actually determines what is popular music or if popular
• 25:57
  music. Is also just popular.
• 26:00
  On Tik. T.O.K Would Haley Sharp have
• 26:02
  choreographed a Tik? T.O.K Dance to Doja.
• 26:04
  Cats say so if it wasn't. Already a popular song, now
• 26:08
  whether or not Tik. T.O.K is actually.
• 26:10
  More influential to music creation than other mediums of
• 26:13
  generations past. Is debatable, but what is for
• 26:16
  sure? Is that the corporation likes to
• 26:19
  play into this belief in September of last.
• 26:21
  Year. TikTok launched Elevate, a
• 26:24
  program quote designed to identify and nurture the next
• 26:28
  generation of musical talent who already seemed destined to make
• 26:32
  waves worldwide. Elevate claims to.
• 26:34
  Provide artists with both. In app and external benefits
• 26:38
  like visibility and awareness, fan engagement, music promotion
• 26:41
  and brand building. In an interview with Forbes,
• 26:44
  Rachel Dunham, who was the North?
• 26:46
  America Artist Partnerships Lead at TikTok.
• 26:48
  Called elevate a major step in making.
• 26:50
  Sure that TikTok is. Quote the most artist.
• 26:53
  Friendly platform, possible despite.
• 26:56
  This claim. However, TikTok has.
• 26:58
  Actually made it increasingly difficult for lesser known
• 27:00
  artists to find viral fame. For example, according to
• 27:04
  Business Insider, Tik Tok's music operations team has a
• 27:07
  series of promo. Levers that it uses to boost
• 27:10
  the. Popularity of songs and its
• 27:12
  editorial team even quote overwrote its own algorithm to
• 27:16
  boost views. For Taylor.
• 27:17
  Swift and Beyoncé when they first joined the platform, as
• 27:20
  TikTok has continued to see Unprecedented.
• 27:22
  Growth over the years. It's not a.
• 27:24
  Stretch to say that. The app now defines popular
• 27:27
  culture in every single way, and it seems that this power has
• 27:30
  made TikTok increasingly greedy, particularly when it comes to
• 27:34
  the music being played on its platform.
• 27:36
  OK, so what's really? Going on between TikTok and UMG.
• 27:40
  So when it comes to music there are both licensing rights and
• 27:44
  production rights. Licensing rights are the
• 27:47
  copyright of the song recording which is often owned by the
• 27:50
  record label. Licensing rights are what Taylor
• 27:53
  Swift, for example, is fighting for when she talks about re
• 27:56
  recording her Masters publishing.
• 27:59
  Rights are the copyright. To the DNA of the song, like the
• 28:02
  lyrics and the actual music. Scores itself, Publishers are.
• 28:07
  Responsible for representing the authors of a song, so these
• 28:10
  rights are not always owned. By the record label.
• 28:13
  But they sometimes are. Where it gets even more
• 28:16
  confusing is that some artists have their publishing rights.
• 28:18
  With a record label. Like UMG that they're not
• 28:22
  actually signed to. SO in the disagreement between
• 28:25
  TikTok and UMG, UMG at the moment is only removing their
• 28:29
  license recordings, but UMG is threatening that if things keep
• 28:33
  going South with TikTok they will remove the songs they hold
• 28:37
  publishing rights to as well. Which would?
• 28:39
  Also impact artists that aren't even signed with UMG with the
• 28:44
  news. Of the TikTok.
• 28:45
  UMG split creators and users. Spiraled What would TikTok?
• 28:49
  Be without some of the world's most popular music.
• 28:53
  But two weeks later. It doesn't really feel like much
• 28:55
  has changed for the user experience, although music
• 28:59
  remains a significant aspect. Of TikTok culture.
• 29:03
  There has been a shift. TikTok dances are still around,
• 29:07
  but they no longer dominate the For You page as they once did in
• 29:10
  2020. And today, most of the viral
• 29:12
  TikTok content is centered around comedy, political
• 29:16
  discourse, and social commentary.
• 29:18
  Genres of content where popular songs are not necessarily.
• 29:21
  A prerequisite and for. Those who do want access.
• 29:25
  To their favorite artist. Music on the platform.
• 29:27
  There are already a plethora. Of fan edits and.
• 29:30
  Remixes available to use. So this begs the question, will
• 29:34
  this? Dispute.
• 29:35
  Actually hold up. Well, on the in case you missed
• 29:38
  a. Podcast.
• 29:39
  Hosts Candace Lim and Serena Toros mentioned a similar
• 29:43
  dispute from 2008 between Warner Music Group and YouTube as a
• 29:47
  case. Study.
• 29:48
  Warner Music Group Removed. All of the official videos of
• 29:51
  its. Recording artists from YouTube
• 29:53
  over a disagreement about its licensing deal.
• 29:55
  The record label only held out for nine months before striking
• 29:59
  a new. Deal with YouTube.
• 30:00
  To get its music back on the platform.
• 30:03
  This disagreement had commercial implications for both companies,
• 30:07
  with Warner Music Group losing exposure, marketing and
• 30:09
  licensing revenue, while YouTube lost a significant portion of
• 30:13
  music. Related ad.
• 30:14
  Revenue given how much? UMG and TIK.
• 30:17
  T.O.K are both. Losing during this time.
• 30:19
  It's likely. They'll come to some sort of
• 30:21
  agreement in the near. Future But who's really?
• 30:24
  Losing out now. Are the artists.
• 30:27
  Not the Taylor. Swift's or the Olivia Rodrigo's?
• 30:30
  But the developing artists, many of whom were discovered by UMG
• 30:34
  on the very platform where they can no longer promote their
• 30:37
  music and if we've learned anything from other social media
• 30:40
  platforms. It's that exponential growth.
• 30:43
  Almost always leads to increased corporate greed and a.
• 30:47
  Worse user experience overall. Though TikTok has been the
• 30:50
  golden child of the online world.
• 30:52
  For the past few years, its power struggle with.
• 30:55
  UMG over music licensing. Rights, suggests.
• 30:58
  It may be headed down the same path as so many platforms before
• 31:02
  it. Infinite.
• 31:04
  Scroll is a podcast. Written, produced, edited and
• 31:07
  presented by me Lauren Meisner for Centennial World.
• 31:11
  Additional research and reporting is by Annabelle Ben,
• 31:14
  David, Thank you guys so much for listening.
• 31:17
  I love you all so much. And I will talk to you next
• 31:19
  week.