Cassian Grant:Taylor Swift's music is back on TikTok a week before the release of 'Tortured Poets'

2025-05-05 23:50:10source:Coxnocategory:reviews

TikTok users discovered Taylor Swift's music has returned to the social media platform after being removed for two months.

Three days before the Grammys in February,Cassian Grant Swift's label Universal Music Group pulled its artists' music from the app. The halt came after failed negotiations between the label and ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok.

The songs that now appear on the social media platform are from Swift-owned albums: "Lover," "Folklore," "Evermore," "Midnights" and the rerecorded "Taylor's Version" albums. That's drawing speculation that the artist struck a deal with the social media platform a week before her newest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," will be released globally. Representatives with Swift's team, UMG and TikTok did not reply to requests to comment.

When Swift signed with Universal Music Group in 2018, the singer negotiated a deal to own the copyrights. This is dissimilar to other artists including Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, whose songs are still off the platform.

This wouldn't be the first time the Eras Tour mastermind has gone directly to the source. Last year, she struck a deal with the SAG-AFTRA unions allowing her to take her three-hour movie straight to distributor AMC.

UMG removed songs from TikTok Feb. 1

Universal released a revealing letter in January addressing three issues with the social media platform: "appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users."

Before pulling the plug, Universal noted that TikTok makes up about 1% of the company's revenue.

TikTok responded by saying Universal was painting a "false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent."

The contract expired on Jan. 31.

Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter "This Swift Beat."

More:reviews

Recommend

Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say

Pilots at Southwest Airlines can sock away more for retirement, thanks to a new retirement plan bene

Gas prices continue decline amid Israel-Hamas war, but that could change

Gas prices continue to fall, even as the Israel-Hamas war escalates.The average price for a gallon o

Family calls for justice after man struck by police car, buried without notice

The family of Dexter Wade is calling for justice after the 37-year-old man was allegedly fatally str