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Believe and TuneCore sign licensing deal with TikTok

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 23 July 2020

Believe has signed a new multi-year licensing deal with that there TikTok for its full catalogue of music on a global basis. The deal also covers the company’s DIY digital distribution service TuneCore.

The new partnership, the two companies say, “will provide in-depth analysis of market trends and will allow Believe’s artists and labels to benefit from more marketing coverage and optimise revenue opportunities”. Which sounds like lots of fun, I’m sure we can all agree.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Believe and TuneCore, with their incredible track record of empowering the independent music community”, says TikTok’s Global Head Of Music Ole Obermann. “Supporting independent artists has always been hugely important to TikTok, and this partnership is the next big step in bringing a more diverse range of music to our community”.

Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie adds: “We are THRILLED to strengthen our distribution deal with TikTok, adding an innovative dimension to it. I would like to thank both teams for their collaborative effort to further increase marketing coverage and revenues for our independent artists at all stages of their career. This is a fantastic opportunity for Believe’s artists to engage deeper with their audiences”.

The deal arrives at a point where TikTok is making international headlines, of course, following accusations that it is stealing users’ data and transmitting it back to the Chinese government. The company denies this, and experts have said that there is no evidence that any of that is happening. Still, it was recently banned in India and Amazon issued a statement telling staff to delete the app from their phones, before saying that this order had been issued in error.