Taylor Swift songs have been added back to TikTok following Universal Music Group's mass crackdown on their music.
The new addition does not include all of Swift's work, only the albums that she owns herself are available to create short-form videos with. This includes her "Taylor's Version" releases of Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989, plus later LPs Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights.
So far, Swift is the only Universal Music Group artist whose music has been added back to the platform. Other musicians affected by the fallout included Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, and more.
It is unclear why Swift's music has made its return to the app, as no news regarding a resolution between UMG and the ByteDance-owned platform has come out. The move could be an exception to the deal. Since Swift owns her masters, she also could have made a deal with TikTok independently that allowed for her music to return.
The "Karma" singer could be aiming for her return to the platform to pave the way for smaller artists to get their catalog back on TikTok, which has frequently helped launch or fuel the careers of several musicians. Back in 2015, she made the decision to remove her songs from Apple Music when they had chosen to not pay artists for streams during a user's free trial. Following Swift's move, Apple quickly reversed their decision.
The return to the platform comes just a week before Swift's new record, The Tortured Poets Department, is released. Set to feature collaborations with Florence + the Machine and Post Malone, the highly-anticipated album is speculated to give a preview into her breakup with Joe Alwyn. Excitement Is generating over song titles like "Down Bad" and "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)," which will seemingly lend themselves well to the comedic posts that frequently go viral on the app.
TikTok's reps say that they "don't have anything to share on this," Variety reports. Neither UMG or Swift's reps have commented on the matter, either.
With the GRAMMY-winners music back on the platform, Swifties can now go back to making more videos with songs like "Cruel Summer," "Slut!," "Shake It Off (Taylor's Version)," "You Belong With Me (Taylor's Version)," "Bejeweled," "Cardigan," "Tolerate It," and more.
TikTok was recently targeted by former Vice President Mike Pence, who took out a $2 million ad to promote banning the app. The campaign speaks to the Senate, urging them to support the House bill that would force Chinese-based company ByteDance to sell TikTok in the United States. It was sent to key election states like Montana, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Washington D.C.
The app gained popularity when content creators like Charli D'Amelio and Addison Rae went viral for dancing to different edits and remixes of tunes on the platform. It has been instrumental in boosting the careers of artists like Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, and Tate McRae. It also revitalized the careers of Meghan Trainor, Jason Derulo, and more.
