Universal Music warns it will pull songs from TikTok

In an open letter, Universal accused TikTok of "trying to build a music-basedbusiness, without paying fair value for the music."
Both sides have been discussing the terms of a new agreement, with theirexisting contract set to expire on Wednesday.
But their deal has not been renewed.
Among the issues raised in talks were "appropriate compensation" for artistsand songwriters, online safety for users, as well as the protection ofartists from the harms of artificial intelligence, the letter added.
But as negotiations proceeded, Universal said, "TikTok attempted to bully usinto accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fairmarket value and not reflective of their exponential growth."
Major music companies earn royalty payments from streaming and social mediaplatforms.
Industry giant Universal said, however, that TikTok proposed paying "a ratethat is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platformspay."
Despite TikTok's large user base, it accounts for just about one percent ofUniversal's total revenue, the company added.
Universal noted other problems such as large amounts of AI-generatedrecordings on the platform, alongside what it called a lack of effort to dealwith infringements on artists' music.
Artists on Universal's labels include Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.
Owned by Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok is one of the most popular socialmedia platforms globally, with more than one billion users.