TikTok, a music app, has become one of the most popular social media apps over the past couple of years. As of February 1st, many of the sounds offered on the app have become muted due to copyright restrictions. So, what happens when you take away some of the music that makes this app popular?

The music in question was provided to TikTok through Universal Music Group, and because the two organizations failed to reach a licensing agreement, Universal took their sounds back. So, if you search for a song on TikTok, it might not be there anymore because it might have been owned by UMG. This has frustrated a lot of people on the app, as some users have found that their favorite videos no longer have the sound that they like, while those who primarily post TikToks cannot find popular sounds that would get them the views that they want. Also, if you previously posted a video with one of the sounds that has been taken down due to copyright restrictions, the sound will be taken off. This has been the case for many people, including myself.

Popular artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and more have had their sounds removed from the app as well – but it’s not just large musicians like these. If smaller artists also allowed TikTok to use their music under UMG, then their music would no longer be allowed on the app either. 

Overall, this means that TikTok will be losing a lot of profit. Due to the amount of songs that have been taken away, people have considered deleting the app. Popular creators might refrain from using sounds, either because they do not have the sounds everyone likes or because they do not want to have the music taken off of the video after they posted it.

This is not all bad news, though. Even though your favorite sounds may be removed, you can still add your own. You can take songs or sound effects from a playlist, music app, or website, and post your video to it. Granted, it would be a lot of work to do to post just a singular video, but it would be worth it in the end. Also, none of the sounds made by users will be taken down. You can still listen to your favorite creators rant about their days, funny skits, or those Reddit stories with the Subway Surfers backgrounds; in my opinion, those are even better than the ones getting removed. AI bots also have the ability to create different sounds that sound just like popular artists. So, you could take your favorite song, put it in an AI generator, and post it on TikTok. You can even make different artists sing many of your favorite songs. 

As of today, TikTok is still in the process of taking down sounds and probably will be for a little while. So, enjoy some of your favorite songs while they last on the app because they might get taken down soon.