EW has confirmed that songs from Adele, SZA, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and more will be back on TikTok within two weeks.

TikTok and Universal Music Group — the company that represents music’s biggest stars, from Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga to Drake, Ariana Grande, and Adele — have reached a new licensing agreement that will see the return of all UMG artists’ libraries to the social media platform.

Following the announcement of the deal, a representative for TikTok informed Entertainment Weekly on Thursday that the artists’ catalogs are anticipated to return to the platform within two weeks. Additionally, previously muted videos featuring songs from UMG artists will be unmuted during this process.

The announcement states, “UMG and TikTok will deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs, and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI.” It also confirms that new tools will be introduced to TikTok to enhance artists’ monetization opportunities on the platform. These tools include “Add to Music App,” enhanced data and analytics, and integrated ticketing capabilities, all aimed at benefiting artists financially and in expanding their global fanbases using TikTok’s large and engaged community. Moreover, the deal aims to strengthen online safety protections for artists and their fans.

Taylor Swift; TikTok; Lady Gaga. JOHN MEDINA/GETTY IMAGES; OMER TAHA CETIN/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES; SAMIR HUSSEIN/GETTY IMAGES

The move comes three months after a bitter battle between the two entities over the prior licensing deal, which expired in February and resulted in TikTok removing the label’s song library from its channels after the two entities failed to come to an agreement over what UMG alleged as unfair pay for its artists’ work.

“This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community. We look forward to collaborating with the team at TikTok to further the interests of our artists and songwriters and drive innovation in fan engagement while advancing social music monetization,” said UMG Chairman and CEO, Sir Lucian Grainge, in a press statement about the new deal.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew expressed, “Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem, and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group. We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery, and promotion for all of UMG’s amazing artists and songwriters, and deepen their ability to grow, connect, and engage with the TikTok community.”

This development occurs amidst TikTok’s ongoing conflict with the United States government. President Joe Biden signed a bill that could domestically ban the app if ByteDance, its parent company, isn’t sold. The Senate-passed bill stipulates that ByteDance can no longer control the social media site’s algorithm. It also mandates that ByteDance has nine months to sell the site, with a three-month extension if a sale is in progress but not completed by the initial deadline.

A spokesperson for TikTok previously told EW in a statement that the bill is “unconstitutional,” and that the company “will challenge it in court.”

TikTok pulls Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Drake, more songs after UMG label alleges unfair pay

Songs by Ariana Grande, SZA, Adele, and more have disappeared from TikTok, which UMG claimed isn’t “paying fair value for the music.”

Universal Music Group — the recording industry giant with a roster of some of the biggest musicians working today — and TikTok began Thursday the process of removing the label’s song library from the social media platform after the two entities failed to come to an agreement over what UMG alleges is unfair pay for its artists’ work.

Artists impacted by the decision include those signed to major UMG record labels like Capitol, Interscope, Republic, and more, including Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Drake, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, SZA, and Adele, among others.

In a lengthy open letter published Tuesday, UMG cited a licensing contract with TikTok that allows the platform to use its artists’ music, emphasizing the responsibility for TikTok to “fairly compensate our artists and songwriters and treat the user experience with respect.”

The licensing agreement expired at the start of February, prompting the removal of the artists’ libraries from TikTok’s general library. As of Thursday morning, users could no longer add songs by the aforementioned artists (and more) to new TikTok posts. Some pre-existing posts using such material, however — including Grande’s promotion for her new single “Yes, and?” — were still on the site. EW has learned that audio for these posts will be muted at some point in the near future.

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Drake.AMY SUSSMAN/WIREIMAGE; JASON KEMPIN/GETTY; AMY SUSSMAN/GETTY; GABE GINSBERG/GETTY

UMG also noted that the company’s approach to compensation did not match the fact that TikTok’s success is “built in large part on the music created by our artists and songwriters,” the letter continued.

“With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay. Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1 percent of our total revenue,” UMG said. “Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”

In response, TikTok labeled UMG’s statement “sad and disappointing,” and claimed that the organization put its “own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters” in a press statement of its own.

“Despite Universal’s false narrative and rhetoric, the fact is they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent,” TikTok’s statement continued. “TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.”

Though users can incorporate 60-second clips of songs into their videos, TikTok is not a music-focused streaming platform. Instead, it is a video-sharing application that, according to a source close to the situation, has other agreements in place with many major and independent record labels.