One of the interesting (if unfortunate for TikTok) things about UMG’s dispute with the social app is the backing the major label has received from some unexpected quarters.
Artists’ rights campaigners, for example, and now a prominent figure in the independent community.
Dr Richard James Burgess, president and CEO of US indies body A2IM, has written an op-ed for MBW backing UMG’s decision to withdraw its catalogue from TikTok. “We have allowed radio to profit from more than 100 years of free recorded music and we repeated that mistake 42 years ago with MTV,” he wrote.
“We must stop sowing our seeds in barren soil. The returns artists and labels receive from TikTok are meager and insufficient to sustain their livelihoods.”
Burgess also expressed the hope that “UMG’s move serves as a catalyst for change, advocating for fairer compensation models that acknowledge the substantial contribution of music to the success of platforms while still leveraging these spaces for effective marketing and promotional activities”.
