No, it’s not a glitch. Taylor Swift survived the great war between TikTok and Universal Music Group.
Today (April 11), fans noticed her music returned to the platform just in time to promote her forthcoming album The Tortured Poets Department, out April 19. In January, UMG removed all the music it owned and/or distributed, including Swift’s prolific catalog, from TikTok after negotiations between the music giant and the social media platform broke down over artist royalties.
Swift is the only UMG artist whose music has returned to the platform. Other TikToks using UMG artists’ music like The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, and Bad Bunny remain silent.
It’s not all that surprising that Swift would become the exception to the rule. In signing with Republic Records (a division of UMG) in late 2018, she retained the publishing rights to her catalog as the primary songwriter. And when the singer released her last album, Midnights, she relied heavily on TikTok for promotion. She revealed the tracklist for the album in a series uploaded to the platform titled, “Midnights Mayhem with me.” She has yet to post about Tortured Poets Department on TikTok.
But even during her music’s dark period on TikTok, Swifties kept her eras alive on the platform, posting pitched-up versions of songs and covers.
Hopefully, Swift’s move will help smaller UMG artists who rely on TikTok to promote music much more than the superstar get their music back on the platform.
TikTok and UMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
