TikTokers are finding creative (and funny) ways to use less music
I have to hand it to the fans for turning disability into something fun.
Last week, Universal Music Group (UMG) removed TikTok’s entire music catalog. As a result, songs from hundreds of globally popular musicians such as Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny are no longer available on the platform, severely limiting the possibilities for creating viral thirst videos, among other things. That hasn’t stopped the platform’s users from getting creative. Naturally, non-copyrighted music has become extremely popular. But since Friday, users are even using ringtones and other well-known jingles to create their videos. The result is a bewildering mix of previously obscure songs alongside new bops sprung from modern washing machines.
At this point, it’s difficult to fully assess the scope and impact UMG’s actions have had on TikTok users — including the creatives who generate the music in the first place. The catalog features several popular artists, many of whom made a name for themselves on the TikTok platform. For a mega-popular artist like Swift, a single song could be an integral part of more than 100,000 videos on TikTok, which now must find another source of music. Even seemingly unrelated internet bubbles, such as fans creating fan edits of anime characters, were affected by the change as their library of viable music became more limited.
Luckily for us, it seems there’s no news event too big or a change in our culture so small that it can’t be made into an online meme. Currently, some fans are leaning into TikTok’s suddenly limited licensed music options by purchasing hilarious new songs. A certain song called “Shaking a duck‘ has become a popular choice. Fans can even create reverse-engineering videos Taylor Swift dances to it.
In addition to using royalty-free and copyright-free music, others have also used common sounds, such as the standard iPhone alarm sound, to create a remix for use in fan edits. Here is an example of usage Baldur’s Gate 3‘s beloved Astarion.
The Jujustu Kaisen fandom has been working extremely hard. If these video editors have taught me anything, there’s really no limit to what can be turned into a funny character video. I have seen Jujustu Kaisen fans make videos with songs like ‘Cotton Eye Joe,’Baby shark”, and a distorted version of the opening fanfare that plays when you’re watching a Disney movie. My personal favorite is when someone used the jingle that my LG clothes washer and dryer plays when it finishes a load of laundry, and uses it to create an edit of Gojo Jujutsu Kaisen. Just keep scrolling to see some hilarious examples.
While these types of edits have caused major disruption and turned it into a joke, we have yet to see the full consequences of the decision. UMG is one of the largest music groups in the world and many of their artists rely on the platform to promote their music. Even within the anime world, TikTok showed that fandom can be a way to amplify a musician’s work and turn music into a viable career. Now fans around the world can no longer discover UMG’s music on TikTok through fun videos like Gojo’s thirsty edits Jujutsu Kaisen. Maybe they’ll be inspired to buy a new LG washing machine instead.