Universal Music Group wiping their songs from TikTok is going to hurt the label’s smaller artists the most … so says a musician who saw the app elevate his own artistic brand.
Mareux had his 2015 cover of The Cure’s “The Perfect Girl” go viral in 2021 and it vaulted him to a Coachella performance … an astronomical leap he feels will go away amid the UMG/TikTok dispute.
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Mareux tells TMZ … UMG saying they’re pulling songs from TikTok to help artists financially is shady … he says if UMG really cared about their artists they would beef up their contracts, not destroy their limitless opportunities on TikTok.
The way Mareux sees it … artists getting their music integrated into TikTok posts is a great marketing tool. He says the exposure generated on TikTok can literally change an artist’s career, like it did for him.
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Mareux says UMG is just being plain greedy here … and he feels bad for the lesser-known artists who were relying on TikTok to market their music … telling us they’ve got to be feeling super stressed.
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UMG has a huge roster … Taylor Swift, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Ice Spice, Rosalía … and Mareux explains how the established acts are going to be impacted too.
Mareux’s a great example of what TikTok can do for a relatively unknown musician … his ‘Perfect Girl’ cover was kinda floating in the abyss for 6 years until it went viral on TikTok … and he says he wouldn’t have a career now without the app.
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It’s interesting … Mareux says artists aren’t making a lot of money directly from TikTok, but the exposure generated helps them make their money in different ways … and he thinks the UMG strike will put an end to that cash flow.