Topping the music trade’s shuffles this week is Ole Obermann leaping ship from TikTok to Apple Music. Is that this merely the rumble earlier than the earthquake?
The timing of Obermann’s transfer is eyebrow-raising, to say the least – and raises extra questions on whether or not TikTok can actually survive after the “ban” shifts to the following stage in the US.
That is all taking place as monster billion-dollar gives are being floated for the short-form juggernaut — ultimately depend, we tallied ten doable bids as soon as Elon confirmed his disinterest. By way of the precise price ticket, the best whisper determine is near $50 billion, although a bidding struggle might push the nose-bleeding increased.
Even MrBeast needs a chunk of the motion — however with so many high-dollar gives and billionaires, to not point out Trump snowplowing the lane to facilitate a deal, the plain query lingers: Why hasn’t this factor offered, shifted right into a joint enterprise, or in any other case transacted but?
One apparent risk is that ByteDance merely doesn’t wish to promote, they usually’re not taking part in this sport. Go determine—not everybody likes taking orders from the US and Trump, although a tough ‘no’ might torpedo the entire thing.
Which brings us again to Obermann, who is likely to be leaping ship proper earlier than the hull hits the iceberg.
However — Apple Music? Some observers have been fast to level out that Obermann cuts a hostile profile in direction of creators and music IP house owners — but he’s now shifting to the very pro-creator Apple Music.
Perhaps that picture is unfair, although based mostly on our conversations and canvassing, there’s loads of lingering unhealthy blood following Obermann’s TikTok tenure. Throughout his five-plus years on the ByteDance wunderapp, Obermann oversaw two extraordinarily high-profile royalty showdowns involving Common Music Group and indie consortium Merlin. And people are simply the hard-nosed highlights.
Within the case of UMG, TikTok’s insultingly low royalty charges bubbled to the floor through the label’s pullout, with the hard-negotiating Obermann and staff ByteDance refusing to budge till they had been compelled to.
Within the case of indie labels, Obermann & Co. pushed out Merlin totally whereas forcing take-it-or-leave-it offers on divided-and-conquered labels. Obermann someway blamed the media for the ensuing unhealthy rap, however will indie labels’ ensuing unhealthy blood complicate future discussions at Apple, notably if Obermann occupies a enterprise improvement position?
Some are additionally pointing to a doubtlessly massive subject with UMG and Apple’s new recruit, in addition to different content material house owners giant and small — however let’s see how issues shake out. Will Apple’s newest rent put a dent in its creator- and IP-friendly cred?
Shifting to the product entrance, what does this imply for Apple Music?
“Please don’t make Apple Music into TikTok,” you possibly can hear each Apple Music subscriber plead, notably these proudly outdoors the Z or alpha age ranges. Although maybe a extra subtle product technique than simply ‘TikTok-ification‘ is afoot.
In the meantime, DMN Professional subscribers know that Apple Music is sizzling on the heels of Spotify in terms of streaming subscriber dominance, particularly with Spotify shedding some critical momentum within the US in 2024. We’ll maintain you posted on the rising horse race — although Apple Music is now swinging for the fences after a large Tremendous Bowl Halftime sponsorship that clocked report viewership.
Living proof: Apple touted an aggressive $2.99-a-month deal for six months throughout that very same record-setting Tremendous Bowl LIX. Perhaps 2025 is Apple Music’s yr — although we’ll make some popcorn as this DSP battle-of-the-ages unfolds.
