Sources: UMG, Sony, and Warner have been negotiating with ByteDance for a share of TikTok ad revenue and increased royalties before their contracts expire (Bloomberg)

Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Triller removes music catalogs for UMG, WMG, Sony Music and Merlin after Sony filed a lawsuit claiming Triller failed to make payments worth “millions”  —  Following Sony’s lawsuit, one label source says “millions” in unpaid royalties are the issue.  Triller denies this, saying the app is “reassessing” label deals.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube unveils Creator Music in beta, which lets creators browse a catalog and use songs by buying rights or sharing revenue, debuting in the US this fall  —  In addition to the groundbreaking news that YouTube would begin to monetize Shorts videos and revamp its Partner Program …

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance plans to expand its Resso music streaming service globally, starting with over a dozen markets excluding the US, and integrate it into TikTok  —  Company is negotiating with labels as it seeks more than a dozen new global markets  —  TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd …

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
YouTube releases its 2022 recap for the US, highlighting the most-watched videos, top creators, breakout stars, top songs, and global top ads  —  Following the Music Recap earlier this week, YouTube is revealing the top trending videos of 2022 and other lists that more or less serve as a stand in for Rewind.

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Tumblr introduces “community labels”, letting users tag posts about drug and alcohol addiction, violence, and sexual content; no content rules are changing  —  Tumblr announced a “community labels” feature this week that will make it easier for bloggers to filter out sensitive content that they may not want to see.

Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Some NFT marketplaces stop honoring NFT royalties, usually a ~5-10% fee set by the creator and paid by sellers on secondary market sales, rocking the community  —  Creators sound the alarm after the marketplace reveals its plans, which include blacklisting rivals and potentially optional royalties.