Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
YouTube now lets creators add and remix music videos in their Shorts. In its post announcing the feature, YouTube points out that creators can use music videos from artists like Beyoncé and Maggie Rogers — even as TikTok fights with the record label representing them. The timing suggests it’s a direct response to TikTok’s current music licensing battle.
Earlier this month, TikTok lost tracks from artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, and Olivia Rodrigo due to a dispute with Universal Music Group (UMG). TikTok and UMG never renewed their licensing deal after the music label accused TikTok of trying to “bully” it into a bad deal and claimed the social platform wants to “build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”…