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The star’s songs had been pulled from the social video app as part of its dispute with Universal Music Group.
By Alex Weprin
Media & Business Writer
Are you ready for it?
Taylor Swift‘s music has returned to TikTok, months after being pulled as part of the ongoing dispute between the social video platform and Universal Music Group, which distributes Swift’s music.
It is worth noting that Swift has owned the publishing rights to her songs since 2019, though it is not clear if that is the reason why the music has returned to the platform, with users noting that some of her albums were not included, specifically albums that she does not fully own. The singer announced that she would rerecord her songbook to be able to own her master recordings.
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The return of Swift’s library of songs to TikTok comes about a week before her new album The Tortured Poets Department is set for release (it will be out April 19).
The UMG-TikTok dispute saw the label pull all of its music from the platform on Feb. 1, including songs from Swift, Lady Gaga, Drake, and others. As of writing, only Swift’s songs appear to have returned to the platform.
UMG argued in an open letter that “in our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing them on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users,” but that the two sides could not come to terms on those issues, leading to the decision to pull the music.
Last month, UMG and Spotify cut a deal to expand their partnership, including more promotional tools.
TikTok and UMG had not responded to a request for comment, as of writing.
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