Universal Music Group, the label pop star Taylor Swift and rapper Drake are on, has reportedly singed a new licensing agreement with China’s TikTok app.
TikTok and Universal Music Group said on Thursday that they have struck a new deal that will restore the music on UMG’s label to the popular Chinese video-sharing app after taking a hiatus for months, according to a report by Axios.
Earlier this year, the music label let its contract with TikTok expire, at which point UMG pulled its content from the Chinese social media platform.
Notably, the companies’ new licensing agreement will include promotional opportunities and “industry-leading protections” for generative artificial intelligence (AI).
“This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community,” Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge said.
While UMG strikes a new deal with TikTok, President Joe Biden has signed a bill that would force the social media platform’s parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance — which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — to sell the app within nine months or face a ban in the United States.
The legislation was recently passed through the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate with bipartisan support, as U.S. lawmakers continue to cite national security concerns, as well as the dangers the app — owned by a hostile foreign country — poses for kids and teens.
Matt Perdie / Breitbart NewsTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reacted to the sell-or-ban legislation saying the Chinese parent company plans to use America’s laws against the United States to fight the sell-or-ban legislation in court, declaring, “The Constitution is on our side.”
ByteDance, meanwhile, says it prefers that TikTok just shuts down in the United States if its legal challenge fails in court.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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