(NewsNation) — Music by artists like Taylor Swift and Drake will return to TikTok following a new deal with Universal Music Group (UMG).
UMG announced the agreement Wednesday, vowing the removal of AI-generated music and improvements surrounding artist and songwriter attribution.
“This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community,” UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said in an official statement.
UMG represents artists including Billie Eilish, Drake and Taylor Swift, whose music the label removed in February when it failed to strike a new licensing deal.
During that time, AI-generated covers of popular songs, including a fake Lana Del Rey cover of Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” were growing in popularity on TikTok. An AI-generated Olivia Rodrigo cover of “I Hate It Here” off Swift’s latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” also took off, shortly after the album’s April 19 release. Covers by dead musicians have made the rounds, too, including a fake Freddy Mercury rendition of Adele’s “I Set Fire to the Rain” and an artificial Frank Sinatra singing “Wonderwall” by Oasis.
Moving forward, TikTok has agreed to improve compensation for UMG artists and songwriters, according to a news release. The social media company also promised “new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI.”
Users create the covers using software that studies an artist’s voice and learns to recreate other recordings in the same style. Similar technology is used to create AI photos and so-called deepfakes.
It’s not the first time AI celebrity copycats have sparked controversy and legislators in some states are working to address the issue.
Tennessee became the first state in the country to sign legislation protecting artists’ voices from AI misuse, NewsNation affiliate WKRN reported.
The ELVIS Act, which stands for “Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security,” seeks to incorporate voices into the state’s protections of personal rights.
A Missouri lawmaker similarly introduced the “Taylor Swift Act” last year after deepfake-manipulated photos of the singer/songwriter went viral online.
The bill calls for legal safeguards against AI deepfake violations.