But Taylor Swift, as a result of her success, has a unique deal. The rest of the Universal artists? They're working on Maggie's Farm, and most won't say anything for fear the company will stop promoting them.
Now Swift stood up for artists against streaming services. But those are distributors, not the label itself. She ain't gonna piss on Universal. Sure, she pissed on Big Machine, but that was after the fact.
So, Swift has earned her freedom, all the rest of the Universal acts are indentured slaves.
As for statistics saying that Universal has not been hurt by the company's TikTok ban... Just proof that statistics can exist in a vacuum. How do you measure possibilities? Never mind, individual possibilities? Lucian Grainge is fighting for Universal, he's not fighting for any specific act. And if you're a developing act with new music, or even an established act... Well, imagine it being 1985 and your label telling you you can't make a video.
And then there's the scenario detailed in "Hit Men." CBS may choose not to pay independent radio promoters, but that just creates a vacuum that other players will fill. Other labels got the radio slots and eventually CBS caved. In other words, an individual boycott is not enough. Just like Spotify didn't want to launch in the U.S. without all major label groups on board.
But it's even worse. The major labels used to have a monopoly on the music world, but no longer. So, even if the three major label groups all pulled their wares from TikTok... There would still be plenty of independent music to fill the hole. And sure, a lot of it is dreck, but not all of it. And isn't TikTok where the majors go to find all their new talent?
Universal just doesn't have enough power to achieve its goal. Turns out TikTok can live without Universal's music. Furthermore, just like in the era of YouTube infringement, many Universal songs are still up on TikTok. It's not an easy switch to throw, then again, TikTok could be making a better effort. Then again, TikTok knows it's all about a negotiation, so it is dragging its feet.
But Universal didn't see TikTok coming. It thought it had all the control, but just like with the aforementioned MTV, the labels lost power when an unforeseen platform became dominant.
Now in tech, miss an opportunity and you might be history. The truth is the three major labels control almost the entire history of recorded music with their catalogs, a power that won't wane for eons, if ever.
But, once again, distribution is king. If Taylor Swift's new album is not on TikTok, fans won't serendipitously create videos employing its songs, TikTok users won't stumble upon videos containing Taylor's new music. Which means Taylor would be dependent on the public pulling her new tunes, on Spotify, et al, or YouTube, and hard core fans would do this, but casual fans? Taylor Swift's new album might be low on their priority list.
Hell, the reason most people even know Taylor Swift has a new album is because she hijacked the Grammy telecast to announce it, and even if you didn't watch the show the news filtered out to seemingly endless outlets.
You're not going to hold back Taylor Swift. Who has earned her emancipation from the whims of Universal. Taylor Swift is virtually independent. She just uses the services of Universal, otherwise she's on her own. This is the model all artists want, but if you sell your soul to the company man...
If you do not live in a controlled universe, do not try to control it. You've got to pick your battles. Judge your leverage. It's just like a union going on strike... What can you ask for, can you really win?
And Taylor Swift is not a scab, it's just that she does not have to operate under a preexisting agreement. But her brethren signed to Universal... TOUGH NOOGIES!
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