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Taylor Swift has brought her music back to TikTok, putting her at odds with her record label, Universal Music, which went to war with the social media group in February, muting her songs and the rest of her massive catalog from the platform.
A selection of Swift's songs were made available again on TikTok on Thursday, ahead of the album's planned release next week.
Swift, who owns the copyright to her recordings through a 2018 deal with Universal, can control where her work is made available, unlike many other artists. Her return to TikTok has been in the works for some time, people familiar with the matter said.
Universal Music did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did TikTok or Swift's representative.
Swift's move highlights the power musicians have in owning their own work — a point she emphasized by re-recording her catalog after it was sold to private equity groups.
Universal began requiring TikTok to mute its songs on January 31, after negotiations broke down over royalty payments and how to handle AI-generated songs.
The standoff is among the most heated clashes between tech giants and media groups in recent memory. Artists have been left without one of their most important promotional tools, while TikTok users have seen large numbers of their videos ignored. The two companies are still at an impasse.
The return of music's biggest star to the platform underscores the importance of TikTok for artists as one of the biggest drivers of music discovery and promotion. Swift is scheduled to release her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19.
Universal Music is the largest record company, controlling about a third of the world's music. Major music companies generate billions of dollars annually through royalty payments from streaming services and social media groups including Spotify, Apple and Meta. They usually renegotiate these contracts every two years.
When the talks collapsed, TikTok offered to pay Universal a “low-single-digit” percentage of its ad revenue for use of its music, according to people familiar with the matter. This compares to a rate of about 20 percent paid by YouTube.
The other big sticking point is artificial intelligence. Universal wants TikTok's royalty money to go toward musicians, while TikTok wants the pot to also be shared with fans who use artificial intelligence to create their own tracks.
Swift herself has done battles with tech companies in the past. In 2014, she pulled her music from Spotify, stating that she was “not willing to contribute my life's work to an experience.” She returned in 2017.
