TikTok Artist Mareux Says UMG Pulling Music From App Hurts Label's Sm

Publish date: 2024-07-13

Universal Music Group wiping their songs from TikTok is going to hurt the label's smaller artists the most ... so says a musician who saw the app elevate his own artistic brand.

Mareux had his 2015 cover of The Cure's "The Perfect Girl" go viral in 2021 and it vaulted him to a Coachella performance ... an astronomical leap he feels will go away amid the UMG/TikTok dispute.

MOTIVATED BY GREED

Mareux tells TMZ ... UMG saying they're pulling songs from TikTok to help artists financially is shady ... he says if UMG really cared about their artists they would beef up their contracts, not destroy their limitless opportunities on TikTok.

The way Mareux sees it ... artists getting their music integrated into TikTok posts is a great marketing tool. He says the exposure generated on TikTok can literally change an artist's career, like it did for him.

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Mareux says UMG is just being plain greedy here ... and he feels bad for the lesser-known artists who were relying on TikTok to market their music ... telling us they've got to be feeling super stressed.

TMZ INVESTIGATES

UMG has a huge roster ... Taylor Swift, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Ice Spice, Rosalía ... and Mareux explains how the established acts are going to be impacted too.

Mareux's a great example of what TikTok can do for a relatively unknown musician ... his 'Perfect Girl' cover was kinda floating in the abyss for 6 years until it went viral on TikTok ... and he says he wouldn't have a career now without the app.

A HUGE BUMP

It's interesting ... Mareux says artists aren't making a lot of money directly from TikTok, but the exposure generated helps them make their money in different ways ... and he thinks the UMG strike will put an end to that cash flow.