By Tom Tapp
Deputy Managing Editor
Amid the ongoing dispute between TikTok and Universal Music Group, some music from that label’s biggest artist, Taylor Swift, has reappeared on the social media platform.
Universal Music pulled its songs from TikTok earlier this year, citing financial terms and concerns about inadequate restrictions on artificial intelligence tools. UMG’s catalog of 4 million songs includes tracks from Swift, Bad Bunny, Adele and many others.
The newly-reappeared songs are from Swift’s Universal catalog. She signed with the music giant in 2018 after leaving Big Machine. They include hits like “Lover,” “Anti-Hero,” “Cruel Summer” and “Cardigan.” The selection also includes her Taylor’s Version rerecordings of Big Machine-era hits such as “Shake It Off” and “Fearless.”
No deal has been announced between Universal Music and TikTok, so it is unclear how Swift’s music was reintroduced to the platform, but Swift owns her masters under her deal with UMG and may have made her own deal. It would not be the first time the superstar has found a unique way around a distribution bottleneck.
It would also not be the first time she has turned this type of issue into a prime promotional opportunity. Swift’s next studio album, titled The Tortured Poets Department, comes out in eight days.
Separately, TikTok has been under increased scrutiny in recent weeks due to ongoing concerns about China’s role in overseeing the platform. TikTok parent ByteDance was founded in China. The company has repeatedly maintained that it has put in place many safeguards aimed at preventing U.S. user information to be used by Chinese government officials. Those lobbying efforts have not prevented a bipartisan bill to ban the app from reaching the U.S. Senate.
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