![\"Entertainment](\"https:\/\/www.digitalmusicnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/why-is-triller-not-working-article.jpg\" "\\"Entertainment\\"")
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Photo Credit: Triller<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Entertainment In August of 2022, Sony Music Entertainment (SME) sued Triller for allegedly failing to make millions in royalty payments. Now, Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed a missing-payment complaint of its own against the TikTok competitor. <\/strong><\/h2>\nTriller\u2019s latest licensing dispute just recently entered the media spotlight, after the short-form video-sharing app last month formally responded<\/a> to Sony Music\u2019s aforesaid action. For background, Triller \u2013 which had been working towards a Q4 2022 IPO<\/a>, according to execs \u2013 previously clashed with Universal Music in 2021.<\/p>\nUMG yanked its artists\u2019 work from Triller in February of 2021 as part of the rights-related showdown, which ultimately concluded<\/a> in May of the same year. Needless to say, however, the Big Three label\u2019s catalog is once again absent from Triller, which is alleged to have failed to make payments and provide usage reports for some nine months, per Variety.<\/p>\n\u201cDuring the same time period that Triller was defaulting on its payment and reporting obligations, it was reported that Triller was spending substantial amounts of money acquiring companies, including Julius and Fangage, and throwing lavish events catering to members of the media and entertainment industry,\u201d the lawsuit reads, appearing extremely similar to Sony Music\u2019s initially noted (ongoing) complaint.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the exact same months that Triller was failing to make licensing payments to Sony Music, it went on a purchasing spree,\u201d SME wrote in its own suit, also including references to Julius and Fangage.<\/p>\n
Back to the newer of the infringement actions, though, Triller had allegedly agreed to cough up approximately $3 million to UMG for licensing and the prior use of its catalog, on top of another $1 million or so for catalog usages within promotional content and third-party adverts.<\/p>\n
Responding to the complaint in a widely circulated statement, Triller downplayed UMG\u2019s action as \u201cnothing more than a minor contractual dispute with a publisher, not the label.\u201d <\/strong><\/h4>\n\u201cThis is a dispute about publishing for a very small percentage of the catalogue, and is the ordinary course of business for the music industry and over a small amount of money,\u201d Triller proceeded in part. \u201cThis will be decided upon in a proper venue in a few years, and we clearly believe we are in the right and that a court will find in our favor. It\u2019s a plain vanilla case that virtually every social network has faced in one form or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Worth mentioning in conclusion is that Triller previously signaled its intent to assess \u201ca \u2018Spotify like model\u2019, which would include a revenue share versus large cash payments.\u201d And in answering Sony Music\u2019s suit, as first highlighted, Triller acknowledged \u201cthat it has been unable to make payments\u2026for a variety of reasons.\u201d Separately, the TikTok rival in 2022 settled a missing-payment action<\/a> spearheaded by Verzuz creators Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n
UMG yanked its artists\u2019 work from Triller in February of 2021 as part of the rights-related showdown, which ultimately concluded<\/a> in May of the same year. Needless to say, however, the Big Three label\u2019s catalog is once again absent from Triller, which is alleged to have failed to make payments and provide usage reports for some nine months, per Variety.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the same time period that Triller was defaulting on its payment and reporting obligations, it was reported that Triller was spending substantial amounts of money acquiring companies, including Julius and Fangage, and throwing lavish events catering to members of the media and entertainment industry,\u201d the lawsuit reads, appearing extremely similar to Sony Music\u2019s initially noted (ongoing) complaint.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the exact same months that Triller was failing to make licensing payments to Sony Music, it went on a purchasing spree,\u201d SME wrote in its own suit, also including references to Julius and Fangage.<\/p>\n Back to the newer of the infringement actions, though, Triller had allegedly agreed to cough up approximately $3 million to UMG for licensing and the prior use of its catalog, on top of another $1 million or so for catalog usages within promotional content and third-party adverts.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a dispute about publishing for a very small percentage of the catalogue, and is the ordinary course of business for the music industry and over a small amount of money,\u201d Triller proceeded in part. \u201cThis will be decided upon in a proper venue in a few years, and we clearly believe we are in the right and that a court will find in our favor. It\u2019s a plain vanilla case that virtually every social network has faced in one form or another.\u201d<\/p>\n Worth mentioning in conclusion is that Triller previously signaled its intent to assess \u201ca \u2018Spotify like model\u2019, which would include a revenue share versus large cash payments.\u201d And in answering Sony Music\u2019s suit, as first highlighted, Triller acknowledged \u201cthat it has been unable to make payments\u2026for a variety of reasons.\u201d Separately, the TikTok rival in 2022 settled a missing-payment action<\/a> spearheaded by Verzuz creators Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\nResponding to the complaint in a widely circulated statement, Triller downplayed UMG\u2019s action as \u201cnothing more than a minor contractual dispute with a publisher, not the label.\u201d <\/strong><\/h4>\n