Cody Fry, Noah Kahan and other musicians grappling with Universal's TikTok fight

Cody Fry and Noah Kahan are among the artists wondering how the battle between Universal Music Group and the social media platform could affect them.

Things were going well for Cody Fry, a singer-songwriter and producer known for his lush pop songs. He was looking forward to two concerts with Ben Rector and the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver. And on Monday, his management team called him with some exciting news: One of his songs, “Things You Said,” a romantic duet with Abby Cates, was gaining traction on TikTok in China.

More than 750,000 videos were created with this song in a single day, Mr. Fry said in a TikTok video. It was the kind of organic viral moment that artists and marketers dream of, the kind you can't force.

But Thursday, plenty of videos made by fans with “Things You Said” went silent. TikTok's sudden silence came after Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, pulled its catalog from TikTok after its contract with the platform expired.

In addition to Mr. Fry, who is signed to Decca Records, one of the company's many labels, Universal artists whose videos have gone silent include SZA, Taylor Swift and Ice Spice.

Imagine a TikTok video of someone dancing to a clip of Ms. Swift’s “Bejeweled.” Now imagine that person dancing in complete silence.

“Help, it’s so awkward without music,” a comment read on a recent TikTok posted by Ice Spice, a rapper. whose music regularly arouses strong reactions on the platform.

@codyfrymusic Am I muted yet? #music #musicindustry #universalmusic #umg #thingsyousaid #tiktokmusic #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Cody Fry

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