Photo Credit: Merlin
The battle between indie collective Merlin and TikTok is heating up as the social media platform seeks to bypass Merlin’s collective bargaining power by striking individual deals with the indie labels it deems worthy.
Merlin sent a letter to its independent members over the weekend, stating that TikTok walked away from renegotiating its contract before those negotiations even began. TikTok says it wants to sign direct deals with the labels Merlin represents, which Merlin says is an attempt to license its members’ music at a cheaper rate than it could collectively with Merlin’s representation.
TikTok released a new statement about those allegations that it “does not want to pay a fair rate for the music that powers their platform. It accuses Merlin of lacking quality control and potentially delivering fraudulent streams in what it calls “operational challenges with Merlin in the past.”
“TikTok must be able to control the quality of the content being uploaded to its platform, and to ensure that all content delivered is legitimate,” a TikTok spokesperson says. “We have had operational challenges with Merlin in the past where music that is not quality controlled for copyright is delivered. It presents a big burden, and doing direct deals allows us to exercise better control and also to forge closer relationships with Merlin members.”
Merlin itself addressed those operational challenges in its letter to members, outlining the steps its taken to address “illegitimate activity and content.” They include automated systems that detect suspicious activity, a dedicated team to address issues and impose sanctions on bad actors, and the termination of repeat bad actors who manipulate the system.”
TikTok maintains that this is a business decision and it doesn’t want to get into a licensing dispute with Merlin. But Merlin (perhaps rightfully) views this as an attempt to fragment its membership, which accounts for 15% of the global recorded music market. Merlin members who negotiate individually could end up in worse deals than Merlin could bargain for collectively with its full weight.
So where do we stand right now? As of October 31, TikTok’s current deal with Merlin will end without a renewal. The social media giant is seeking deals with labels independently and they will have until October 25 to avoid disruptions on TikTok. It’s also unclear what the status of TikTok will be in the United States, as ByteDance has struggled in court to challenge the new law ahead of its tight deadline.
