Universal Music Group pulled its entire catalog from TikTok at the end of January. This means that millions of songs disappeared from the platform seemingly overnight. In a recent interview, UMG artists Brothers Osborne shared their opinion about the action their label took.
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Earlier this month, Brothers Osborne sat down with Holler Country to talk about their career, the way they plan to release music in the future, and the fact that their music is no longer available on TikTok.
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Brothers Osborne Discuss the Removal of UMG Songs from TikTok
Some might think that artists would be upset to see their music pulled from the massive social media platform. However, that’s not the case for Brothers Osborne. In fact, they are happy about the move. “Personally, I actually like that Universal is bucking up to them,” T.J. Osborne said. Then, he added, “What I don’t think people understand is, TikTok are not paying a little, they’re literally paying zero.” This means that an artist’s song can be used in a video that gets millions of views but the artist or songwriter would see no royalties from it.
[RELATED: Universal Music Group Will Pull Entire Catalog From TikTok, What That Means for Creators]
On the other hand, T.J. said he could understand why smaller up-and-coming artists on the label would have an issue with the decision. “It’s detrimental to the new artists that are using these free platforms to market their music and get out there and get discovered,” he said. “It is really challenging.”
The situation is something of a double-edged sword for artists and songwriters. They could get a large amount of exposure from a viral TikTok video. However, exposure doesn’t pay the bills, keep food on the table, or put fuel in the tour bus. At the end of the day, Osborne said he hopes UMG and the social media platform can come to an agreement. “Hopefully, all that shakes out and it works out in the writers’ and artists’ best interests,” he said.
Featured Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
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