TikTok has struck a new long-term partnership with International Copyright Enterprise (ICE) to continue providing support for songwriters and music creators globally.
The deal, announced Monday (November 18) will provide TikTok with continued access to ICE’s vast catalog of more than 54 million musical works from over 330,000 rightsholders.
ICE will continue to facilitate royalty payments for songwriters whose works are used on the platform.
“Partnering with TikTok is an exciting opportunity to support songwriters on a global scale, combining creativity and technology to ensure their work is recognized and rewarded,” said Jon Hall, Head of Licensing at ICE.
“This agreement ensures the songwriters ICE represent continue to receive royalties from TikTok across a broad territorial footprint, while simplifying the royalty processes and addressing in collaboration the unique challenges of the short-form video space.”
“This agreement ensures the songwriters ICE represent continue to receive royalties from TikTok across a broad territorial footprint.”
Jon Hall, ICE
The partnership comes as TikTok prepares to host its first-ever ‘TikTok for Songwriters’ event at its London offices on Tuesday (November 19). The invitation-only gathering will feature industry executives, media representatives and songwriters, with TikTok’s Ole Obermann scheduled to lead a panel discussion with two leading songwriters.
Ella Kirby, Head of Music Publishing Licensing & Partnerships, EMEA, at TikTok, highlighted the platform’s music discovery efforts. “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with ICE which will help songwriters and their works to be discovered, re-discovered, promoted and enjoyed by the global community on TikTok.”
“This agreement gives scope to forge new technical and strategic alliances with ICE and its customers, and we look forward to working with ICE in their mission to accurately distribute royalties.”
ICE’s Hall added: “Together, with TikTok, we are laying the groundwork for a future that uplifts and supports songwriters in a dynamic and ever-evolving industry.”
“We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with ICE which will help songwriters and their works to be discovered, re-discovered, promoted and enjoyed by the global community on TikTok.”
Ella Kirby, TikTok
ICE, a music tech company operating across the UK, Germany, and Sweden, says it has processed “trillions” of music streams and distributed more than €4.5 billion ($4.75 billion) in royalties since 2016. Its copyright database spans major collection societies, including PRS, STIM, and GEMA, as well as independent publishers like Peer, Concord, and Songtrust.
For TikTok, the deal with ICE comes as the video-streaming giant ended its blanket deal with Merlin, a digital rights agency that represents independent record labels and music distributors. In recent weeks, TikTok struck direct deals with a number of indie artist service providers including UnitedMasters, which notably is a Merlin member, as well as with Ditto Music, best known for its indie artist distribution offering.
Obermann recently told MBW that TikTok’s decision to exit re-licensing discussions with Merlin “isn’t about bad blood” with Merlin.
“By doing direct deals, if we detect any kinds of content copyright issues, we can address it directly. It’s that simple.”
Music Business Worldwide