British MP slams TikTok’s Australia music test, says app is ‘silencing creators in favour of its own self-interests’

We told you last month that TikTok’s collaborations with major music companies are starting to boil over.

In February, TikTok started restricting access to certain tracks in Australia – in effect ‘mute’ some tracks contracted by major record companies on existing videos – where TikTok claims to be a “test” of ByteDance to see how it affects user behavior.

Last month, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) – Oz is equivalent to the US RIAA – criticized ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, for its decision to restrict access to mainstream released music to Australian creators and select users on the TikTok app.

ARIA represents the interests of the Australian recording music industry, including the interests of three major record companies: Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Corporation And Popular music group.

In that same week ARIA released its statement, TikTok has signed an agreement with Snoop Dogg for major streaming exclusivity, bringing the Death Row catalog to TikTok first, through a exclusive window for the first week.

Now, following TikTok’s antics in Australia, a British politician has accused the app of “silenting creators for their own benefit”.

In an op-ed written for walkie talkie newspaper, Conservative MP Damian Collins, former Minister of Technology and Digital Economy, thinks that TikTok’s ‘mute’ of music in the Australian market is affecting artists globally.

“This action is not only disruptive to a large number of local users, but also poses a significant threat to the worldwide creative community.”

Congressman Damian Collins

“Disturbingly, up to half of TikTok users in Australia are said to be unable to access some or all of the music on the platform anymore as the company begins to ‘prove’ that their music is not available to users,” Collins said. world famous artists are no longer needed for the community. foundation for success.

“This action is not only disruptive to a large number of local users, but also poses a significant threat to the worldwide creative community.”

He added: “For artists who spend months planning a song release, their plans to release new music and reach international audiences have been completely disrupted. This, coupled with the complete lack of warning, has left them speechless.”

Elsewhere in the op-ed, Collins argues that “we all know TikTok’s growth and appeal is largely due to the music available on the platform and it’s not going to become a global phenomenon.” like today without music.”

Collins added: “While TikTok has benefited from music and achieved success thanks to the support of the creative community, the question remains: what will artists and musicians get in return for all of it? What have they contributed to the platform?”

As MBW previously reported, some in the music industry argue that viral, music-centric videos have fueled TikTok’s growth. As a result, professionals want more money from the platform to use their content.

In November, Bloomberg report that thing Warner Music Corporation, Sony Music Entertainment And Popular music group negotiated with TikTok “all year” in 2022 for a share of advertising revenue.

Such deals can guarantee large companies a guaranteed percentage of revenue generated on music-led TikTok videos, as opposed to so-called vacancies. ‘repurchase’ experts have reached agreements with TikTok regarding their rights to date.

Source MBW tells us that TikTok is aiming to use the results of its testing in Australia in licensing negotiations with record companies.

We understand that TikTok’s hope is that the removal of music by major Australian labels for certain users will not significantly affect those users’ engagement on the service.

TikTok hopes to then use this as a case study in its negotiations with its major record company in an attempt to ‘prove’ that it can survive without a major release catalog. .

Collins concluded his post by writing that “We cannot just stand by and let ByteDance and TikTok strangle our world-leading creative sector with their Chinese tech iron fists and at the same time enrich themselves from it” and that “this stifling of creativity and free trade must not go any further – it must not happen here in the UK.”

walkie talkie Citing a TikTok spokesperson as saying, “Speculation that the test is expanding to other markets is baseless.”

Meanwhile, TikTok also continues to face political hurdles in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, where the app has been banned from government employees’ devices.

Besides, on Wednesday (March 1), the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted to pass a bill effectively empowering President Joe Biden to ban TikTok in the US.

As reported This According to CNN, the bill, known as the ‘America’s Technology Adversaries Prevention Act’, would also allow controls on other economic activities involving China, if signed into law.

The bill still needs to be approved by the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate before it can become law.Global Music Business