As the showdown continues between Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok after the world’s greatest file firm pulled content material by its artists and songwriters from the video-hosting social media web site, it appears as if the ban has created a window of alternative for impartial music acts.
A have a look at the higher echelon of Billboard‘s TikTok Top 50 chart shows that the first seven entries on the chart are independent recordings, including Dasha’s breakthrough “Austin,” Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” Djo (a.okay.a. actor/musician Joe Keery)’s “End of Beginning,” and even Bobby Caldwell‘s 1979 hit “What You Won’t Do For Love,” which has gained traction on the platform because of a meals pattern of movies highlighting meals and different issues folks love. Prior to UMG’s TikTok ban, impartial artists, music from impartial artists already made up a good portion of the TikTok 50 chart, which debuted in September 2023, however with out UMG artists’ or songwriters’ works on the platform — which by Billboard‘s current estimates impacts greater than 60% of the most well-liked songs within the United States — the pathway to success is extra clear than ever.
However, prime impartial music executives have a message for artists within the sector: “Not so fast.”
As UMG’s ban drags on, impartial music executives are advising artists to have a look at the larger image — and in addition to make use of this as a chance to have a look at what rights they do and don’t management.
“I truly hope we don’t do what we so often do in the music industry, which is say, ‘Oh, this is an opportunity for me to get a bit of an advantage,’ and then take the advantage, but ultimately damage the ecosystem,” says Richard James Burgess, president/CEO of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). “I think we are sort of at a critically bad state, in terms of the amount of money that’s being paid through [to artists]. That works out fine if you’re an aggregator, distributor or label, and you’ve got enough copyrights. But it’s extremely difficult for the artist to generate enough copyrights to make a living from if someone’s not a household name.”
Burgess continues, “TikTok is an extremely bad actor in terms of the types of deals they do and the structure of their deals. It’s almost like trying to play the lottery — if you get a viral TikTok, it can have an impact on your sales, but how much money does TikTok make from us trying to get that sort of viral spike? They should be paying for the use of music and they’re effectively not paying. I think Universal did a great thing here, and my membership, my board, supports that position.” (A rep for TikTok has declined to remark for this story).
In a 2022 Billboard story, one government from an impartial label famous that artists on his roster earned roughly $150 from TikTok from round 100,000 movies that have been made with their music. Meanwhile, in the identical report, a marketer who spearheaded a marketing campaign for a music single that was utilized in roughly half one million TikTok movies famous that his artist earned lower than $5,000 from TikTok, although views rose into the billions.
While there are alternatives for growing numbers of impartial artists to realize higher traction on TikTok through the platform’s deadlock with UMG, “it’s important for artists to use the opportunity to focus on their own art instead of chasing trending sounds or being the one-millionth person to cover a hit song,” says Jody Whelan of impartial file label Oh Boy Records, which was based in 1981 by the late singer-songwriter John Prine and which now represents music from Prine, Kelsey Waldon and Arlo McKinley, amongst others. “If you’re lucky enough to go viral on TikTok, you want folks to stick around to hear what you have to say.”
For many up to date acts, TikTok is a key element of their advertising and marketing plans, with labels and managers urging artists to create content material in hopes of driving listeners to streaming platforms. A 2023 report, commissioned by TikTok and facilitated by Luminate, famous that 62% of U.S. TikTok customers pay for a music streaming service, in comparison with 43% of all customers.“TikTok user engagement metrics are strongly associated with streaming volumes,” within the United States, the report said. “In other words, higher TikTok engagement — whether that’s likes, views or shares — corresponds with elevated streaming volumes.” The report additionally famous that TikTok customers are extra engaged with different areas of music-related consumption, claiming that within the United States, 45% of TikTok customers bought music-related merch over a year-long span, in contrast with 35% of general music listeners, whereas 38% of TikTok customers attended a reside music occasion through the 12 months, in comparison with 33% of general music listeners.
Even with stats like these, Whelan says the TikTok/UMG battle ought to function a cautionary story to comprehend how even so-called impartial artists can get caught within the ban’s internet due to an affiliation with UMG or UMPG. “This should also serve as a reminder to the independent community: You can’t rely on someone else’s platform to reach your audience,” Whelan says. “This month it’s UMG, next month it could be your distributor. The algorithms and priorities of social media companies and the streamers continuously shift. You have to be able to control the means in which you communicate directly with your audience, whether that’s by email or by text (we also still send out postcards to our fans!).”
Stem CEO Milana Lewis agrees, seeing the state of affairs as a “great moment to highlight the difference between independence and autonomy. Artists believe they’re independent when they do a deal with the independent distribution arm of a major label because their deal terms might be more flexible. In reality, they still have very little control over their rights, and this is a great example of how a big corporation is deciding on their behalf whether or not their music is available on a platform and whether or not they are willing to trade off earnings for exposure.”
Independent artists needs to be taking this time to look at their relationships with all social media and ensure they’re taking full benefit of every platform regardless of TikTok’s present dominance, says Seth Faber, Stem’s common supervisor of music distribution and funds. “Time will tell if Universal’s maneuver will lead to a meaningful redistribution of the viral pie. In the meantime, artists should continue to lean into the full landscape of snackable content,” Faber says. “The power of Instagram’s Reels, Spotify’s Clips and YouTube’s Shorts aren’t to be ignored. Diversify those content portfolios.”
For Burgess, UMG vs. TikTok is a repeat of an age-old battle pitting the business in opposition to artists, with artists usually popping out on the quick finish of the stick. “[TikTok] plays this promotional exposure-discovery game. How many times do we get sucked into that?” Burgess asks. “Radio hasn’t paid [artists] for recorded music. MTV didn’t pay. We keep making the same mistakes. Good thing is that Universal is big enough, and especially with the publishing and everything, the tendrils from that go far and wide.”
Burgess additional likens the UMG-TikTok battle with the continuing battle with secondary ticket markets, saying that a lot of the cash isn’t making its solution to artists. “That is the essence of the problem,” he says. “It would be good if people did the right thing here and stood together to get a better deal for everybody.”
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