Video app TikTok has acquired the rights to all songs from Sony Music Entertainment, the record company of Beyoncé and Travis Scott, among others. The American company announced this on Monday.
Thanks to the agreement, TikTok users can use the songs of the artists of the Sony Music Group among their video recordings. It is not known how much money is involved in the new deal.
“We believe we should share value with the music industry,” said Ole Obermann, TikTok’s head of global music. “As we grow, the value of the entire industry should also grow.”
TikTok threatened to be banned in the United States in the summer. According to US President Donald Trump, Chinese developer ByteDance is a “threat to national security”. Critics fear that TikTok could be used for espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.
Trump withdrew his threat in August, but signed a decree that TikTok will cease its US operations within ninety days. A federal judge in Pennsylvania overturned those government restrictions last Friday. TikTok has more than 100 million users in the United States and about 700 million users worldwide.
