In my dreams, I see a memory. I see images flashing quickly before my eyes, sparkling colors, a person dancing to the beat of an unexpected but dangerously catchy bubblegum pop song. Then I woke up. Universal Music Group ordered mute remains for my favorite TikTok edit.
Fan edits are a type of transformative fanwork that takes clips of the source material and modifies them to create new interpretations. There’s a long history, but nowadays, most editors post on the video-music app TikTok. Editors take pride in their work. They say these edits serve as a creative outlet and a medium to communicate with fellow fans. For many, they are also a way to discover new interests. The effective edit consolidates a show into 15 seconds of its most cinematic shots and heart-wrenching lines, all wrapped up with fitting lyrics. It’s like a movie trailer, except it also tries to convince you that Bilbo Baggins and Thorin are in love.
However, in February of 2024, Universal Music Group decided to remove all of its music from TikTok. This removal effectively silenced about half of the edits on the app. My edits folder, once beautiful, was silenced and desecrated. There was initial outrage as editors realized their work had been damaged by UMG’s actions. But quickly, editors responded humorously by editing pointedly “non-copyright” music. Such masterpieces included songs like “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin, “Waltz of the Flowers” by Tchaikovsky, and the JG Wentworth Jingle. The removal of UMG artists from TikTok caused some indignation among fans, but eventually, reactions simmered down. Editors moved on to different songs. Things are back to what they were before, minus what was already ruined. People adapt.
But I can’t help but wonder – what does this mean on a larger scale? For about two decades, the Internet has been the primary place for people to consistently interact with fan communities. The Internet nowadays is less so. Sociology scholars John Foster and Robert McChesney discussed this in their 2011 article “The Internet’s Unholy Marriage to Capitalism.” It states, “What seemed to be an increasingly open public sphere, removed from the world of commodity exchange, seems to be morphing into a private sphere of increasingly closed, proprietary, even monopolistic markets.” Now, thirteen years later, their prediction has come true. People used to buy movies, and then they would own them. Now, they can pay for a subscription, and maybe they’ll have access to their favorite media for a while. Or, they can spend hours creating art that brings joy and excitement. That is until a company decides it’s no longer profitable to host it.
I’m not here to discuss legality. UMG was completely within its rights to remove their music from TikTok. Instead, I’d like to question the ethics behind such a show of power. Do UMG’s actions protect their artists, as they claim, or is it simply another way for monopolistic corporations to upturn artists? What does it mean that one company can partially destroy the work of creatives across the globe? How much trust do we, as creators and consumers, put into these companies? What does art mean if it’s so easily destroyed by those in power?
Some people think editing celebrities might be a silly hobby for teenage girls. It’s easy to dismiss interests you don’t understand. But the UMG-TikTok incident is a warning of what happens when the interests of corporations are placed above those of small artists. Rest in Peace to my favorite edit.
That’s Fan Behavior is a biweekly series. Come back on Fridays for more!