MPs fear TikTok's "iron grip" could result in musicians losing out on royalties

Conservative MP Damian Collins has raised concerns over the perceived "iron grip" TikTok has over British musicians.

The former Minister For Tech and the Digital Economy has published his own views of the app to The Telegraph after last month it launched a trial in Australia limiting the amount of music on the app so that it could test its "importance" to users.

This trial is part of TikTok's effort to prove that music isn't crucial to the app’s success after issues have emerged with record labels over royalties.

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Collins has said that this test by TikTok is “silencing creators in favour of its own self-interests” adding that the platform is “degrading” the music experience for users as well as artists who gain little return.

“We cannot quietly stand by and let ByteDance and TikTok stifle our world-leading creative sector with their Chinese technological iron grip while enriching themselves from it at the same time,” he said.

“This suffocation of creative and commercial freedom must not be allowed to go any further – it must not be allowed to happen here in the UK.”

A TikTok spokesman told The Telegraph: “Speculation that the test is expanding to other markets is baseless.”

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The spokesman also said: “Some of our community in Australia will not be able to access our full TikTok Sounds library at the moment. This will only affect certain music and is scheduled work while we analyse how sounds are accessed and added to videos, as well as looking to improve and enhance the wider Sounds Library.

“We appreciate it’s disappointing if a certain track is unavailable or if a sound is muted on a previous video. This change will not be in place for long and not all music is affected. We look forward to restoring our full catalogue soon.”

The app has claimed that 10 out of the 12 number ones in the official UK singles chart from the last year were driven by TikTok trends.

TikTok has seen the rise of many musical artists such as PinkPantheress to Hudson Mohawke's 'Cbat' going viral over a decade after its release.

[Via: The Telegraph]

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Video and Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter