Taylor Swift Blocks Trump from Using Her Music on TikTok

Taylor Swift has moved to block Donald Trump from using her music on TikTok, disabling the audio on a recent “Team Trump” post that featured her song “august.” Earlier this year, the White House’s TikTok account shared a post soundtracked by Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” though Swift did not take action against that post. The latest post from Team Trump all but dared Swift to take action, with a caption that read, “I’m sure @TaylorSwift is going to be super excited we used her song!” Consequence has reached out to Swift’s representatives for more information. Swift endorsed Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election, citing in part Trump’s previous use of AI-generated images that falsely suggested she supported him. While numerous artists have denounced Trump’s use of their music in social media posts, they often have limited recourse because the relevant rights are divided among record labels, publishers, and other rights holders that may have existing licensing agreements with social platforms. Swift, however, fully controls the rights to her masters and publishing, giving her greater ability to have her music removed from platforms or restrict how it is used. @teamtr...