TikTok’s Dispute With Universal Music Proves Songwriters Are Still on an Uneven Playing Field: Guest Column
variety.comDavid Israelite Guest Columnist David Israelite is the president & CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners.
Variety welcomes responsible commentary, please send ideas to music@variety.com. Songwriters have always struggled to be treated fairly.
Throughout the history of the music industry, the rights of those who compose the lyrics and melodies are often treated with less respect than the rights of the more famous recording artists who bring their songs to life.
Never has this been truer than in the current dispute between TikTok and Universal Music Group. For anyone not familiar with the state of affairs, UMG’s record labels pulled the rights to their sound recordings off ofTikTok after the parties were unable to come to an agreement.
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