Taylor Swift’s music has made a triumphant return to TikTok, delighting users who noticed on April 11 that her tracks under Universal Music Group (UMG) were once again available on the platform.
This comeback, occurring roughly a month after UMG pulled Swift and other artists’ music amid disagreements over royalty payments with TikTok, has sparked significant fan engagement.
Swifties on TikTok proclaimed that Swift “IS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY,” suggesting the timing—just ahead of her 11th album release, “The Tortured Poets Department,” due on April 19, was crucial.
Speculation among fans suggests that Swift’s control over the master recordings of her albums with UMG, such as “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore,” and all “Taylor’s Versions” re-recordings, may have given her leverage to negotiate directly with TikTok for the return of her music.
However, the restoration wasn’t exclusive to Swift; other UMG artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Bad Bunny also saw their music reinstated. In response, Us Weekly has reached out to UMG for further comments on the situation.
The initial withdrawal of music from TikTok followed after UMG and TikTok failed to agree on a renewed licensing deal. UMG criticized TikTok’s payment proposals in an open letter, arguing that the platform’s offered rates significantly undervalued their artists and songwriters. UMG pointed out that TikTok contributes to only about 1% of their total revenue.
Now that her music is accessible again on TikTok, fans are eagerly creating videos to express their excitement and reactions to Swift’s upcoming album “The Tortured Poets Department,” released via Republic Records, a UMG subsidiary.
