The Value of Silence: The Effect of UMG’s Licensing Dispute with TikTok on Music Demand
References
- (2014) Piracy and music sales: The effects of an anti-piracy law. J. Econom. Behav. Organ. 105:90–106.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) The effects of police violence on inner-city students. Quart. J. Econom. 136(1):115–168.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2009) Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ).Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Synthetic difference-in-differences. Amer. Econom. Rev. 111(12):4088–4118.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2024) Tiktok and Universal Music Group settle royalty dispute, sign new licensing agreement. Variety. Accessed June 3, 2024, https://variety.com/2024/music/news/tiktok-universal-music-group-settle-royalty-dispute-licensing-agreement-1235987271/.Google Scholar
- (2003) Outsourcing at will: The contribution of unjust dismissal doctrine to the growth of employment outsourcing. J. Labor Econom. 21(1):1–42.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2024) Social media, music consumption, and cross-platform spillover effects. Preprint, submitted October 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4959753.Google Scholar
- (2013) Broadband internet: An information superhighway to sex crime? Rev. Econom. Stud. 80(4):1237–1266.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2024) 7 essential revenue sources for record labels. Accessed June 3, 2024, https://releaseloop.com/blog/7-essential-revenue-sources-for-record-labels.Google Scholar
- Chartmetric (2022) Understand artist growth and career stage with chartmetric. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://hmc.chartmetric.com/chartmetric-artist-career-stage-growth/.Google Scholar
- Chartmetric (2024) Chartmetric API documentation. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://api.chartmetric.com/apidoc/.Google Scholar
- (2023) Economic effects of environmental crises: Evidence from Flint, Michigan. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 15(1):196–232.Crossref, Google Scholar
- Cirrkus (2022) What happens after a TikTok video goes viral? Accessed May 19, 2024, https://cirrkus.com/news/entertainment-news/what-happens-after-a-tiktok-video-goes-viral/2128812/.Google Scholar
- (2024) 2023 TikTok data report: 85 Link. Accessed March 1, 2025, https://pex.com/blog/2023-tiktok-data-report-85-of-videos-on-tiktok-contain-music/.Google Scholar
- (2023) Music streaming app revenue and usage statistics (2024). Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/music-streaming-market/.Google Scholar
- (2024) TikTok and Universal Music Group deal. Vulture. Accessed June 3, 2024, https://www.vulture.com/article/tiktok-universal-music-group-deal.html.Google Scholar
- (2018) Matching and regression to the mean in difference-in-differences analysis. Health Services Res. 53(6):4138–4156.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2024) How to add your own song to TikTok, December. Accessed May 15, 2025, https://blog.delivermytune.com/how-to-add-your-own-song-to-tiktok.Google Scholar
- (2024) The music industry’s over-reliance on TikTok shows how lazy it has become. Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/01/music-industry-reliance-tiktok-universal-music-group.Google Scholar
- (2024) Music streaming services stats (2023). Accessed May 19, 2024, https://explodingtopics.com/blog/music-streaming-stats.Google Scholar
- (2023) Tiktok is pushing longer videossome creators worry about the vibe shift. Accessed May 15, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/tech/tiktok-pushing-longer-videos-creators-app-change.Google Scholar
- (2022) Reallocation effects of the minimum wage. Quart. J. Econom. 137(1):267–328.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2020) Backlash: The unintended effects of language prohibition in US schools after world war I. Rev. Econom. Stud. 87(1):204–239.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2004) Using online conversations to study word-of-mouth communication. Marketing Sci. 23(4):545–560.Link, Google Scholar
- (2018) Public insurance and mortality: Evidence from medicaid implementation. J. Political Econom. 126(1):216–262.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2016) Sales displacement and streaming music: Evidence from YouTube. Inform. Econom. Policy 34:16–26.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2025) Data shows that longer clips are gaining traction on TikTok. Accessed May 15, 2025, https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/research-tiktok-longer-videos-get-more-reach/742754/.Google Scholar
- Hypebot (2023) How much money do musicians make on TikTok? Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2023/08/how-much-money-do-musicians-make-on-tiktok-and-how-do-they-make-it.html.Google Scholar
- (2022) So… how much did TikTok actually pay the music industry from its $4bn in revenues last year? Accessed on May 19th, 2024, https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/so-how-much-did-tiktok-actually-pay-the-music-industry-from-its-4bn-in-revenues-last-year/.Google Scholar
- (2024) Tiktok revenue and usage statistics (2023). Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/.Google Scholar
- (2020) Video killed the radio star? Online music videos and recorded music sales. Inform. Systems Res. 31(3):776–800.Link, Google Scholar
- (2024) Vocal TikTok users navigate a quieter app. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/03/arts/music/tiktok-umg-songs-music.html.Google Scholar
- (2020) Does piracy create online word of mouth? An empirical analysis in the movie industry. Management Sci. 66(5):2140–2162.Link, Google Scholar
- Luminate (2023) Luminate releases 2023 year-end report. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://luminatedata.com/reports/yearend-music-industry-report/.Google Scholar
- (2013) On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind (Oxford University Press, New York).Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2024) Can’t see the forest for the logs: On the perils of using difference-in-differences with a log-dependent variable. Working paper, University of London, London.Google Scholar
- (2020) Revisiting the difference-in-differences parallel trends assumption: Part I pre-trend testing. World Bank Blogs. Accessed June 3, 2024, https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/impactevaluations/revisiting-difference-differences-parallel-trends-assumption-part-i-pre-trend.Google Scholar
- Novecore Blog (2023) Tiktok’s influence on the music industry: A game changer. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://blog.novecore.com/tiktoks-influence-on-the-music-industry-a-game-changer/.Google Scholar
- (1988) Advertising repetition: A critical review of wearin and wearout. Curr. Issues Res. Advertising 11(1–2):285–329.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2023) A more credible approach to parallel trends. Rev. Econom. Stud. 90(5):2555–2591.Crossref, Google Scholar
- RIAA (2024) U.S. Sales Database - RIAA. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/.Google Scholar
- RouteNote (2022) How much music streaming services pay per stream. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://routenote.com/blog/how-much-music-streaming-services-pay/.Google Scholar
- (2024) Record label market share q1 2024: Warner records posts huge gains while Universal enters a new era. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.billboard.com/business/record-labels/record-label-market-share-q1-2024-universal-warner-1235655068/.Google Scholar
- (2024) Nearly 85% of TikTok videos contain music, study finds — More than YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2024/02/09/tiktok-music-study-february-2024/.Google Scholar
- Sony Music (2024a) Sony: Our labels. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.sonymusic.com/labels/.Google Scholar
- Sony Music (2024b) Sony Music Artists. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://www.sonymusic.eu/artists/.Google Scholar
- Soundcharts (2024) Soundcharts API. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://doc.api.soundcharts.com/api/v2/doc.Google Scholar
- Spotify (2024a) About Spotify. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://newsroom.spotify.com/company-info/.Google Scholar
- Spotify (2024b) How we count streams. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/how-we-count-streams/.Google Scholar
- Spotify for Developers (2022) Spotify_artist_popularity. Accessed May 15, 2025, https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api/reference/get-an-artist.Google Scholar
- (2024) Important TikTok stats you need to know in 2024. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.socialchamp.io/blog/tiktok-stats.Google Scholar
- TikTok (2020) Cranberry dreams. Accessed on May 19th, 2024, https://www.tiktok.com/@420doggface208/video/6876424179084709126.Google Scholar
- TikTok (2021) New studies quantify TikTok’s growing impact on culture and music. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/new-studies-quantify-tiktoks-growing-impact-on-culture-and-music.Google Scholar
- TikTok News (2024a) TikTok statement in response to Universal Music Group. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/tiktok-statement-in-response-to-universal-music-group.Google Scholar
- TikTok News (2024b) Tiktok statement in response to Universal Music Group. Accessed on May 19th, 2024, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/tiktok-statement-in-response-to-universal-music-group.Google Scholar
- TikTok News (2025) Tiktok and luminate release the latest music impact report. Accessed May 15, 2025, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/tiktok-and-luminate-release-latest-music-impact-report.Google Scholar
- TikTok Newsroom (2019) Doggface gives the world a smile with juice, a skateboard, and all the vibes. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/doggface-gives-the-world-a-smile-with-juice-a-skateboard-and-all-the-vibes.Google Scholar
- Tuberanker (2022) How does YouTube count views? (complete explanation). Accessed May 19, 2024, https://tuberanker.com/blog/how-does-youtube-count-views.Google Scholar
- Universal Music Group (2024a) UMG: Our labels & brands. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.universalmusic.com/labels/.Google Scholar
- Universal Music Group (2024b) An open letter to the artist and songwriter community - Why we must call time out on TikTok. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.universalmusic.com/an-open-letter-to-the-artist-and-songwriter-community-why-we-must-call-time-out-on-tiktok/.Google Scholar
- Universal Music Group (2024c) Universal Music Group and TikTok announce new licensing agreement. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.universalmusic.com/universal-music-group-and-tiktok-announce-new-licensing-agreement/.Google Scholar
- Universal Music Publishing Group (2021) https://www.umusicpub.com/us/Artists.aspx. Accessed February 15, 2024.Google Scholar
- Variety (2024) TikTok begins removing Universal Music publishing songs, expanding royalty battle. Accessed October 1, 2024, https://variety.com/2024/music/musicians/tiktok-removing-universal-music-publishing-songs-1235923848/.Google Scholar
- Warner Music Store (2024) Accessed February 15, 2024, https://store.warnermusic.com/en/warner-music-store-us-all-artists-page.html.Google Scholar
- Warner Recorded Music (2024) WRM: Our labels & distributions. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.warnerrecordedmusic.com/labels-and-distribution/.Google Scholar
- Warner Records (2024) Warner Records artists. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://www.warnerrecords.com/.Google Scholar
- (2023) How TikTok is changing the music industry and the way we discover new, popular songs. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-is-changing-music-industry.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia (2023a) List of Sony Music artists. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Sony\_Music\_artists.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia (2023b) List of Warner Music Group artists. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Warner\_Music\_Group\_artists.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia (2024) List of Universal Music Group artists. Accessed February 15, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Universal\_Music\_Group\_artists.Google Scholar
- (2024) The impact of social media on music demand: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment. Preprint, submitted May 23, https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14999.Google Scholar
- (2024) Frontiers: The interplay of user-generated content, content industry revenues, and platform regulation: Quasi-experimental evidence from YouTube. Marketing Sci. 43(1):1–12.Link, Google Scholar
- Woodward (2024) TikTok user statistics: Everything you need to know about TikTok users. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/statistics/tiktok-user-statistics/.Google Scholar
- (2024) Frontiers: Pirating foes or creative friends? Effects of user-generated condensed clips on demand for streaming services. Marketing Sci. 43(3):469–478.Link, Google Scholar
- YouTube News (2023) Make the most out of the YouTube music app with these latest features. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-app-2023-guide/.Google Scholar
- (2022) Extending the internet meme: Conceptualizing technological mimesis and imitation publics on the TikTok platform. New Media Soc. 24(8):1872–1890.Crossref, Google Scholar

