Indie Music Publishers Association Criticizes TikTok, But Tells Members to Decide ‘What Is Best for Their Business’ Before Joining Boycott

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As the standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok over royalties, AI and other matters continues to boil amid angry words from both sides — and the National Music Publishers Assn.

stating last weekthat it does not plan to renew its license with the platform — the official trade group for independent publishers has weighed in with its own advice.

The Association of Independent Music Publishers said in a statement on Friday that TikTok’s payments have long been insufficient and advocates that the platform adopt a per-stream payment policy like the one used by streaming platforms.

However, while it states that “songwriters and publishers deserve to be paid for the value they bring to TikTok, and any revenue model going forward needs to reflect that value,” it encourages its members to “fully evaluate what is being offered and make a decision for what is best for their business, not TikTok’s.” At the core of the issue is the fact that even though TikTok has been the most effective and influential platform for breaking music of the past five years, its royalty payments are significantly lower than other platforms; UMG also has raised the alarm about its low copyright protections against AI.