Twitter’s Talks Over Licensing Music Are Said to Stall Under Elon Musk

Twitter explored the licensing of music rights from three main labels earlier than negotiations stalled after Elon Musk’s takeover of the corporate, mentioned eight individuals with information of the discussions, who weren’t licensed to talk publicly.

Twitter is likely one of the final massive social media platforms with out music licensing offers, which permit the websites to host nearly all commercially accessible audio content material with out worry of takedowns or authorized reprisal. Fb, Instagram and TikTok have all made agreements for music rights.

Twitter had averted signing offers for music rights, which require social media firms to compensate rights holders when customers submit or play content material with track. The prices of the licenses can fluctuate, however could be effectively over $100 million a 12 months for established social-media platforms. Twitter has forgone the licensing offers due to the prices, 5 former workers mentioned.

Twitter and Mr. Musk didn’t reply to an e mail request for remark.

Twitter started negotiations with the three main music conglomerates — Common, Sony and Warner — within the fall of 2021, based on six individuals near the talks. When Mr. Musk introduced his intent to purchase the corporate final April, some music trade leaders noticed his involvement as a possibility to lastly get the offers executed.

“Twitter makes use of a big quantity of music however not like all different mainstream social media platforms has refused to license that music or compensate songwriters,” David Israelite, the chief govt of the Nationwide Music Publishers’ Affiliation, a commerce group, tweeted at Mr. Musk that month. “Please assist.”

For the music firms, licensing agreements with Twitter wouldn’t solely signify an extra income but additionally resolve longstanding issues of copyright infringement on the platform.

After Mr. Musk purchased Twitter in October for $44 billion, talks continued as he flirted with the concept of challenging TikTok and resurrecting Vine, a once-popular short-video app that Twitter had purchased in 2012 however shut down in 2016.

Mr. Musk’s crew was intrigued by the concept of including music to the platform, and his private lawyer, Alex Spiro, who has additionally represented artists together with Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion, held conferences to grasp the standing of the label negotiations and assess the prices, 4 individuals acquainted with the interior discussions mentioned.

Mr. Spiro, who oversaw Twitter’s authorized portfolio throughout Mr. Musk’s acquisition, left the company in December. He efficiently defended Mr. Musk in a Tesla shareholder lawsuit this 12 months.

The internal chaos at Twitter after Mr. Musk’s takeover disrupted the negotiations, six individuals mentioned. The corporate eradicated a number of the individuals answerable for the music rights talks in a number of rounds of layoffs, leaving the labels with few remaining Twitter contacts, mentioned 4 individuals on the main music firms who have been briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Musk’s crew has additionally lower tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in expenditures at Twitter — missing office rent payments, shortchanging software vendors and eliminating a data center — whereas requiring that each monetary outlay be justified underneath new budgets. With these mandates, two individuals mentioned, the corporate had little means to justify paying tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to music rights holders.