Warner Music Group has signed a licensing deal with TikTok. The news marked the viral video platform’s second major label license deal in as many months, after it was announced at the beginning of November that it had struck a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to “make songs from SME’s roster of global superstars and exciting emerging artists widely available across the TikTok app”.
“We want to ensure there’s value for our artists across the board, and the goal is to ensure that they make money to live their lives.” Oana Ruxandra, Warner Music’s Chief Digital Officer told Bloomberg.
As first reported by Bloomberg, TikTok’s latest licensing agreement covers songs from WMG’s publishing division Warner Chappell Music in addition to WMG’s recorded music catalog. The deal follows the news at the end of November that TikTok has agreed a multi-year licensing deal with Pan-European licensing hub ICE for the musical works represented by the ICE Core.
Bloomberg noted in its report that major labels have licensed some of the biggest social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, and now TikTok, in the past year.
TikTok published its first ever US Music Report in December, in which it claimed that in the past year alone, over 70 artists that have broken on the platform have signed major label deals. Obviously enough, the news of TikTok’s deal with WMG means that the company only has one major label deal left to secure (publicly, at least): Universal Music Group.