UMG and TikTok Split Will Hurt the Discoverability of Smaller Artists In the Long Run
With TikTok and Universal Music Group having reached a stalemate and, ultimately, the collapse of their partnership, artists and songwriters belonging to the stable and caught in the middle might be at a frightening crossroads. Because in as much as the reasons for cutting off TikTok might be noble, UMG might have cut its own nose to spite its own face.
In an open letter released yesterday, the global music company decided to stand on business, rehashing its stance: that they wouldn’t be carrying on with TikTok unless they made reformations to pay good value for the songs used on the app. Another reason was to protect the smaller, up-and-coming acts from digital exploitation.
And yet, UMG deciding to terminate the partnership might hurt the smaller artists more while putting the squeeze on the discoverability of music from older artists.
After all, with so many users of TikTok globally, it would be against better judgment to not have your music as an artist unavailable for usage. If anything, some of the greatest sleeper gems in music have either been unearthed or given a second life because of TikTok alone – never mind the push of record labels and non-technological forms of marketing.
A very good example of the impact that TikTok has had with sleeper hits is the NSFW #CeilingChallenge that breathed new life into JID’s “Surround Sound” alongside 21 Savage and Baby Tate. Although the song was dropped in 2022 as the lead single of JID’s The Forever Story, it was only in late 2023 that the song found new life in the TikTok challenge in which women would post videos of themselves twerking to the snippet of the song.
Some of the most famous of these videos were done by Mzansi heartthrobs Cindy Makhathini and Cyan Boujee.
The song would eventually peak at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard TikTok chart. As a lead artist, “Surround Sound” is JID’s highest-charting song on the Hot 100 chart, and his second-highest overall after “Enemy” with Imagine Dragons (#4). On top of that, the song is now well on its way to going double platinum thanks to the challenge.
JID might already be a lyrical beast with Grammy nominations under his belt, but the impact TikTok has had on the discoverability of his music has been invaluable.
South Africa is a country that loves nothing more than to dance and have a good time. TikTok, as such, is the best place to start “challenges”. The most recent has been Mr Nation Thingz and DJ Lag’s #HadeBossChallenge, which blew up even before the song was released.
#HadeBossChallenge Video from Mr Nation Thingz’s TikTok
Another example is Jaydon Lewis, a South African producer who has found clout on TikTok for doing an amapiano remix of the GTA San Andreas theme song. His original video has amassed over 300, 000 likes, with many users globally joining in on making videos on top of his sound. For the traction, he’s went on to release a full version of his remix.
With all that said, it’s a curious thing to consider that UMG severing ties with TikTok is to protect burgeoning artists, when in truth, TikTok has been pivotal in giving newer artists exposure and an alternative path that indie artists can take to achieve popularity without having to go through gatekeepers.
Sure, bigger South African artists might be able to survive the cut, especially those with loyal fanbases and streaming fanatics. But for the younger artists still trying to build a career, the loss of TikTok, with its algorithm, might be a huge blow, considering that all it takes is one viral challenge for a song to start charting once again.
In this instance, it truly is a numbers game. TikTok understands the impact it has had on the numbers in terms of traction, whereas UMG has been more interested about the digits on a fiscal level. Will SA artists signed to UMG feel the pinch in the long run, isolated from the perks of TikTok? Only time will tell.