Your favorite cult artist may be drawing fewer hallelujahs on TikTok now that the world’s largest music company is removing its entire catalog from the app due to a licensing dispute.
Last week, Universal Music Group (UMC) announced that it “stop licensing content” on TikTok and began removing songs and recordings, including Christian worship hits released through Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG).
The UMG-owned Christian label has signed and acquired the catalogs of some of today’s most influential Christian musicians: Hillsong, Kari Jobe, Passion, Amy Grant, Anne Wilson, Brooke Ligertwood, Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Mac Powell, Tauren Wells, TobyMac. , and We the Kingdom. As CT reported last yearCCMG claimed to have a 60 percent market share of the top 10 worship songs used in churches.
So in addition to deleting Taylor Swift audio Eras Tour Performances, most of Hillsong UNITED’s TikTok profiles now no longer have audio. Several Chris Tomlin videos were muted this weekend. The removal process takes time and may affect new uploads more than existing video content. The story is still developing, so it remains to be seen how comprehensive UMG’s enforcement of the law will be.
Because TikTok’s algorithm serves videos with trending audio tracks, many of today’s artists want to see their music go viral on the app; it is a major platform for exposure to a young and global audience. This decision has caused uncertainty among both Christian and traditional musicians.
How will this change on TikTok affect the Christian music industry?
As Christian music becomes more and more integrated into the mainstream music industry, artists in this niche will find that their songs, while created to serve the Church, are also part of a massive collection of assets and exchange currency that come into play during these business negotiations.
Music from artists signed to UMG labels and brands will be removed from TikTok in the coming weeks unless the parties ultimately reach an agreement. This includes music from CCMG artists as well as other labels under its umbrella, including Motown Gospel, Re:Think, Sparrow Records and Hillsong Music.
UMG-affiliated artists trying to market new music will need to develop a social strategy that doesn’t include TikTok. For artists with a large following on the platform – Hillsong Worship, for example, has more than 440,000 subscribers and Kari Jobe, 161,400 – this limitation will be frustrating, because their own label will prevent them from publishing their music.
Wait. Why would UMG want to limit an artist’s ability to promote their own music?
“UMG’s response to the artists is as follows: We try to charge you more moneysaid music marketer Drew Small, who has worked for Bethel, Tooth & Nail Records and CCMG, and now runs an independent music marketing agency in Nashville.
In his statement of January 30UMG expressed its commitment to its artists and their work: “We will always fight for our artists and songwriters and defend the creative and commercial value of music. »
According to UMG, TikTok wants to get away with paying artists a fraction of the value of their work. TikTok’s response accused UMG of placing “its own greed above the interests of its artists and songwriters.” But in the short term, the move hurts artists trying to get their music out there and reach new fans.
How important is TikTok to CCM and contemporary worship artists?
According to Small, TikTok has not become a consistently powerful promotional tool for Christian artists.
“I don’t see a lot of Christian artists doing successful marketing on Tiktok,” Small said. “Part of the appeal of Tiktok is generating numbers at a very affordable price, thus giving the impression of success. You can generate a lot of traffic for very little money.
But a strategy based on virality doesn’t work for many artists; it’s not always an effective way to find fans willing to listen to new music and support a musician’s career. Some Christian artists like Maverick City Music, JWLKRS, Forrest Frank, Hulvey, and Elevation Worship have been able to create high-profile content on the platform, but these artists are notable exceptions.
Although TikTok is not a key marketing tool for most Christian artists, UMG’s ability to remove their music from the platform may seem like a violation, even though the company has the legal right to do so. For artists with minimal administration and distribution agreements with UMG and its subsidiaries, UMG controls the use of their songs. And records, even though the entity may have had almost no involvement in the artist’s career.
For some of these artists, this decision seems unfair and extreme because it concerns the entirety of UMG’s publishing catalog, more than 4 million songs. UMG not only deletes master recordings, it also deletes Songs themselves, the compositions. This means that any version of a song in UMG’s catalog, including live versions and covers, can be removed. This includes songs for which UMG only controls a small percentage of the rights.
What happens if my church or I post a cover of a UMG-owned worship song on TikTok?
It can be disabled or deleted.
“This is going to affect anyone who does a cover of a UMG-affiliated worship song,” Small said. “No one is being prosecuted for this, but a lot of people who post just for fun will have their videos cut or deleted.”
Even small accounts intended for personal use are not exempt, and content that might otherwise go unnoticed can be detected and removed.
Small said UMG’s recognition software is impressive and will likely capture videos containing UMG-owned songs. Even if a creator doesn’t mention the song name in the caption or post the lyrics, the automated program can still recognize the melody and structure.
In some cases, Small said, cover videos will simply be muted: the visual will remain posted without audio. In others, accounts could be subject to multiple “strike” for content violations and possibly be reported or suspended.
TikTok is a place where Christians can post their own covers of worship songs and watch videos posted by other fans and church musicians. It’s also a platform where worship leaders and industry professionals post ministry-related comedy, share tutorials, offer feedback, and even commiserate about the challenges of their role.
Several videos posted by the popular account “CultLeaderProbs» had the sound removed. A meme with Steve Carell as Michael Scott dancing on a now unknown Cody Carnes song doesn’t quite hit the mark. On Carnes’ TikTok page, sound was removed from several videos of the artist performing hit songs like “Firm foundation” And “God be praised.”
Are there reasons why this dispute is particularly relevant to Christian musicians?
Increased investment in Christian music from the mainstream industry has increased the visibility of many Christian musicians around the world. The removal of popular CCM and worship music from TikTok is an example of how industry investment and involvement in this niche is subject to certain conditions. And this is true for any musician who pursues a contract with a label group like UMG.
The relationship between ministry and business in the Christian music industry is complicated. Worship artists who create music to serve the Church may suddenly find that their offerings are also being used as currency and investment opportunities. In some cases, these are artists who signed with small labels acquired by UMG well after they began writing music.
“CCMG is becoming a monopoly,” Small said. “Seeing them remove themselves from TikTok is a benefit to any artist on any other label.”
Small also hopes this episode might inspire artists to reconsider the value of creating music tailored to platforms like TikTok, which inspire artists to create music with short, catchy hooks and memorable sound bites. “It’s an incentive to create good content, good art, that doesn’t feel like an ad.”
Kelsey Kramer McGinnis is CT’s worship music correspondent. To learn more about Universal Music Group’s TikTok license transfer, check out the report from Vulture, rolling stone, And Music Business Worldwide.
