Sydney electronic artist Kota Banks has hit out at TikTok for using Australian creators in a test case for whether users will keep using the app without access to certain music.
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Last week, it was reported by Bloomberg that the video-sharing platform is running an experiment with “a subset of TikTok’s users in Australia” that means content creators will not “be able to use certain songs”.
In a statement to The Music Network, a representative for TikTok clarified that over the next few weeks, the company will be “running a test in Australia to analyse how music is accessed and used on the platform”.
“Some of our users will not be able to access our full music and sounds library,” the representative continued. “For more than half of our community there will be no change to their experience and the test will not impact them.”
Kota Banks, who releases music through Nina Las Vegas‘ NLV Records label, has strongly criticised the experiment, saying that she – as one of the creators on the platform affected by the test – is unable to access even her own music.
“I just released a song that I’m so proud of. I’m an independent artist, so I don’t have that much budget. A lot of what I release is self-funded,” Banks – who released latest single ‘GIRLS WORLD!’ last month through NLV – said in a video she posted online yesterday (February 7).
“TikTok, after begging independent content creators and artists to promote their own music on the platform literally turned around and said it’s fine if 50 per cent of users don’t have access anymore to their own sounds. For over a month, by the way. I’m over my song in a month. I want to move onto the next one.”
Banks goes on to argue that the experiment is at odds with the way TikTok has increasingly positioned itself as a tool for artists and creators to share and promote their work with their audience.
“It’s giving, y’all want to use us but you don’t really give a fuck. It’s already so hard for Australian independent artists and now we’re the test. It just feels wack to be a guinea pig. We all put our heart and soul into these releases. A lot of my peers reached out to me after I posted about this and said, ‘Wow, this was happening to me but I didn’t know why.’
“I would like to beg TikTok on behalf of all Australian independent artists to dead this test that they’re running or find a more artist-friendly way to do this analysis, because you’re literally putting all of these independent artists at a disadvantage. The thing that gets me is that it feels lazy and inconsiderate. Surely there’s another way to run these tests.”
TikTok’s Australian experiment comes as the company attempts to understand the value of licensed music to its user base, utilising the test as a way to measure just how much being unable to access all of the sounds they want would affect their usage of the platform.
In November of last year, Bloomberg reported that major labels Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group had been “negotiating all year” with TikTok, asking the company to share the advertising revenue and increase royalties it pays them for rights.