Ditto dumps Merlin as TikTok takedown of millions of indie tracks looms

Ditto dumps Merlin deal and signs directly with TikTok as this week’s takedown of millions of tracks by independent artists used in videos looms.

Earlier this month TikTok walked away from talks with Merlin to renew a group licensing deal with thousands of independent labels and distributors. At the time TikTok said they were “committed to entering into direct deals with Merlin members in order to keep their music on TikTok.”

Ditto, which distributes more than a million tracks. has now signed a licensing directly with TikTok.

Merlin represents 30,000 independent labels and distributors including DistroKid, CD Baby, Secretly and Beggars.

Ditto Dumps Merlin

The current deal expires on October 31 and the deadline to commit to a new direct deal was October 25th.

Ditto’s decision to break with Merlin’s group negotiations with TikTok follows a similar move by United Masters early in the week. It’s unclear how many others will cave a track takedowns begin. So far most indies appear to publicly back Merlin.

UMG faced a similar battle with TikTok earlier this year. After three months of takedowns and name calling, the pair finally came to terms.

We’ll be following this story closely in the coming days. If you have been affected or just have an opinion to share we’ll be monitoring the Comments section below.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.