What A Day - TikTok's Timeout

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

President Joe Biden issued an executive order imposing sanctions and visa bans on Israeli settlers who were accused of attacking Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the violence in Gaza continues. The Palestinian death toll has reportedly surpassed 27,000. More than 66,000 people have been wounded by Israel since Hamas’ attack killed 1,200 and took about 250 largely civilian hostages.Universal Music Group started pulling their music from TikTok Thursday morning. The move comes after the previous licensing deal between UMG and TikTok was set to expire on Wednesday. And on Tuesday, Universal released a strongly worded open letter to TikTok outlining their concerns.And in headlines: the European Union agreed to a $54 billion funding deal for Ukraine, Oregon’s Supreme Court ruled that the Republican lawmakers who walked off the job last year to block progressive legislation cannot run for re-election, and newsroom staffers at the Chicago Tribune and six other publications around the country walked off the job to demand better pay amid stalled labor talks.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

it's friday february 2nd i'm treyvel anderson and i'm priyanka arabindi and this is what a day the podcast that you will be listening to over and over and over again whether you like it or not yes today is groundhog day aka the day when punk satani phil predicts the weather and i never saw the movie but i do know the day is supposed to repeat itself so i really hope you enjoy today's episode because you'll be hearing it for a while. Over and over. Love that for y'all. On today's show, the European Union has agreed to a $54 billion funding deal for Ukraine. Plus, we preview music's biggest night.

But first, I've got a few updates out of the Middle East, starting with the latest on Israel, Gaza, and Palestine. President Biden issued an executive order imposing sanctions and visa bans on Israeli settlers that have attacked, killed, or forced the evacuation of Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the West Bank. The order was followed by the State Department publicly identifying four Israeli settlers and the acts of violence they are accused of, attacks that have intensified in the region since Hamas's October 7th attack. The executive order makes clear that these attacks in the West Bank undercut the U.S.'s policy objectives for the region, quote, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom.

Right. It appears the U.S. is doubling down on this long-held position, but it appears that this is very different from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's POV. How did he respond to this announcement? Well, U.S. officials did say that he was notified before the public announcement. So I guess that's a little bit of diplomatic courtesy there. But as you alluded to, Netanyahu has made it abundantly clear that he is opposed to any plan that involves a free Palestine and anything that aims to hold Israel accountable for the humanitarian crisis its war on Hamas has created. So he was quick to say that most of the Israeli settlers in the occupied territory are law-abiding citizens and that because Israel, quote, takes action against lawbreakers in every place, that there was no reason for the executive order. Relatedly, major donors to UNRWA, which is the main aid agency supporting

Palestinians, said they anticipate resuming funding to the group. We mentioned earlier this week that donor nations pulled funding after Israel accused 12 of the agency's employees of participating in Hamas's October 7th attack. Not having that funding potentially exacerbates the humanitarian issues of the region. Well, UN reps from donor countries are now coming out saying that as soon as the UN completes its investigation and takes, quote, quick and decisive action to restore donor confidence, that the funding will return. UNRWA has already fired nine of those accused as they investigate. Meanwhile, the violence in Gaza continues. The Palestinian death toll has reportedly surpassed 27,000 and more than 66,000 have been wounded by Israel since Hamas's attack killed 1,200

and took about 250 largely civilian hostages. Right, just devastating numbers. That toll continues to climb every time we discuss what's going on in the region. And so many updates here. But this is not the only area of the region that is currently experiencing conflict. Can you give us some other updates while we are discussing this? Yes, so there is the impending U.S. response to the recent attacks on U.S. forces in the region, including that drone strike in Jordan over last weekend that killed three service people and injured more than 40 others. Right. CBS News is reporting that U.S. officials have approved a series of strikes with targets in Iraq and Syria. Now, the White House hasn't confirmed that this is the plan of action,

but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did answer some questions while speaking to the press yesterday. This was his first press conference since the whole, you know, him not telling anybody he was in the hospital thing. Right. Yeah. Right. But when reporters asked about the forthcoming military response after the Iran-backed militia Qatab Hezbollah announced Tuesday that it was suspending its military operations against U.S. forces, here is what Austin said. In terms of my response to KH's statement, we always listen to what people are saying, but we watch what they do. And again, actions are everything. So we'll see what happens in the future. We will have a multi-tiered response. And again,

we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is. All right. So that was a response. Not exactly clear what will happen though, but we will stay on top of this and bring you all the updates as soon as we know more. Anyways, thank you for all of those updates, Traevel. Now we're going to switch gears a little bit because it is time to talk about my favorite topic, TikTok, and specifically why it's sounding a little bit different lately. As of yesterday morning, Universal Music Group, or UMG, which is the record label behind artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny, and so many more, started pulling

their music from the app. If you are not addicted to TikTok and don't quite understand why this is a big deal, let me explain. So on TikTok, snippets of songs are provided by labels like Universal and others are available in a library to users who often add them as background audio to videos that they upload to the platform. This can be makeup tutorials, funny animal videos, dance challenges, truly any and everything on that app. And once a sound or snippet of a song starts trending on the app, it can lead the song that it came from to blow up. Over the past few years, this has led to smaller artists

being discovered by huge audiences. Bigger artists have started coming to the platform to tease new releases. It's even introduced older songs to entirely new audiences. Fleetwood Mac is a really good example of that. Their songs have gone super viral on the app and introduced a bunch of younger people to the band.

But as of the time of our recording at 9.30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday night, TikTok users are no longer able to add any audio from songs licensed by UMG to their videos or to hear those songs in videos that have already been made and uploaded. And seeing as UMG is the biggest record label in the world, that is a pretty big deal. Yeah, and this is definitely going to impact so many of our experiences on the clock app, as we call it. Oh, yes. But can you tell us a little bit more

about how we even got here? Who else's music will no longer be on the app? Yeah, I mean, it's a lot of artists. Aside from the three that I mentioned earlier, Universal has deals with Olivia Rodrigo, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, just tons and tons of artists, big and small, you name it. But this was not completely out of the blue. The previous licensing deal between Universal and TikTok was set to expire on Wednesday of this week. And the day before that, Universal released a strongly

worded open letter to TikTok outlining their concerns. Of course, Universal wants more money. The two companies didn't agree on a royalty rate. And according to Universal, TikTok wants to pay its artists a, quote, fraction of the rate of other social platforms. In their letter, they said, quote, TikTok is trying to build a music-based business without paying fair value for the music. But money isn't their only issue. They also have concerns about the proliferation of AI-generated recordings on the platform that threaten the livelihood of their artists, as well as the online safety issues

that plague the platform. In response to UMG, TikTok said on Tuesday it was, quote, sad and disappointing, but they claim that Universal's narrative is not true. So they're just throwing their hands up, I guess. What does this mean for the millions of us on the app who are used to seeing videos with these folks' music in it? Yeah, I mean, in order to comply with Universal's withdrawal from their agreement, TikTok started removing all of their songs from the platform's music library,

so no one can make new videos using these songs. And for older videos that were already made using Universal's music, that audio is just gone. You go to play those videos and it's completely silent. Some of them include the note, this sound isn't available. This has left many popular videos, including a number by celebrities and videos that have gone super viral, completely mute. It's unclear exactly how many existing TikToks will be affected by this change, but given the popularity of this music, it's not at all unreasonable to estimate that it could be millions and millions of videos. This is going to be wild. It's just in terms of our experience on the app, right? People be dancing to songs and stuff like that. We won't have any

of that anymore. It's just silent. They're dancing to nothing. Oh my God. And what about the artists? How is this going to impact them? I mean, that could be a real determining factor here in what happens in the long term. Universal maintains that they are looking out for their artists. Concerns about streaming revenue have been ongoing. This isn't the first time that this has come up, certainly won't be the last. And most artists do believe that they're getting ripped off by streaming and these platforms. But on the other hand, being absent from such a popular platform that is such a big part of music discovery today could end up hurting some of these artists, especially, you know, smaller ones who don't have the reach of a Taylor

Swift and rely on the platform to promote their new releases or to surface their songs to new listeners. As for which side will ultimately prevail here, we will just have to wait and see. Will TikTok decide that losing out on so many of the world's most popular songs and artists isn't worth it? Will they decide they don't care as long as they still have deals with other companies in the industry? Or on the other side, will Universal turn around and decide that not being on the app actually hurts their artists more than being paid unfairly does? Lots of decisions to be made, but we will keep you updated as this plays out. That is the latest for now. Let's get to some headlines.

Headlines. The European Union agreed to a $54 billion funding deal for Ukraine yesterday at a pretty significant point in this almost two-year war. This funding had been blocked by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was buddy-buddy with Putin and argued he didn't want the funds to come from the EU budget. It was definitely crucial that it passed since additional military aid from the U.S. is currently stalled in Congress. At the same time, a renewed Russian assault has been pushing the Ukrainian front. Tax season is upon us and Washington heard the calls. The House approved a $78 billion bipartisan tax package on Wednesday that would boost the child tax credit and restore some business tax benefits that were rolled back during the Trump administration. It was a rare moment of bipartisanship with the bill passing overwhelmingly. The child tax credit expansion in the deal would really benefit lower income families who could claim more of the credit.

It could also help increase the supply of low income housing and contains relief for Americans impacted by natural disasters. Some Republicans criticize the proposal, however, because they say it could disincentivize work. Why do they believe this about absolutely anything that remotely helps anyone? I don't know. Maybe they just believe that we all deserve to die unless we are being worked to death. That kind of seems like it. And some more progressive Democrats said that the deal didn't make the credit accessible to more families with no or very little incomes. It heads next to the Senate. So we will be keeping an eye on this. Oregon Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Republican lawmakers who walked off the job

last year to block progressive legislation cannot run for re-election. You might remember that last summer, 10 Republican state senators refused to come to work for about six weeks to keep their colleagues from considering new laws, including bills about abortion and trans health care. The walkout finally ended when Democrats made a deal to adjust some of the language in the contested bills, but state officials demanded accountability from these Republicans for getting in the way of the Democratic process. In August, Oregon's Secretary of State, LaVon Griffin-Vallade, invoked Measure 113, a rule that bans lawmakers from running for re-election if they rack up more than 10 unexcused absences during their term. Five lawmakers sued, appealing the matter to the state Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court this week sided with the secretary. Alexa,

please play Karma by Taylor Swift. Love it when you hit them with the rules. Like, what could be more delicious than that? So perfect. Now we turn to Chicago, where the city council voted Wednesday to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The nail-biting vote

came down to a tie with 23 council members on each side. It was all up to Mayor Brandon Johnson to cast the deciding vote. Take a listen to the moment when activists found out

that the mayor was on their side. He voted aye! We voted aye! This makes Chicago vote. Take a listen to the moment when activists found out that the mayor was on their side. This makes Chicago the biggest city in the country to demand a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. And while the resolution is only symbolic, the victory signals a divide among Democrats nationwide over Biden's refusal to call for a ceasefire. About 70 cities have passed similar resolutions pressuring Biden to act. Also in Chicago, newsroom staffers at the Chicago Tribune Biden's refusal to call for a ceasefire. About 70 cities have passed similar resolutions, pressuring Biden to act. Also in Chicago, newsroom staffers at the Chicago Tribune and six other publications around the country walked off the job yesterday to demand better pay amid stalled labor talks. The strike is set to last for 24 hours as local journalists, photographers, and editors pressure their employer, Alden Global Capital, for a new fair labor agreement. The union representing these workers, News Guild CWA, told the Associated Press

that some of its members have been going back and forth in bargaining for five years. Five years is a very long time to go without a union contract. Far too long. And finally, the latest on Donald Trump's many, many legal woes. A verdict in former President Donald Trump's New York civil business fraud trial is expected to come down sometime this month. The verdict was initially anticipated to arrive on Wednesday of this week, but a court spokesman told CNBC that early to mid-February is more like it. As a reminder, this is the civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James that accuses Trump and his business of inflating their assets

in order to get better terms from banks and insurers. Trump could face a $370 million fine and could also be banned from doing business in New York. And if he does have to pay that fine, it could come in addition to the $83.3 million that Trump has to pay writer E. Jean Carroll. A New York jury ordered him to pay that amount last week for defaming Carroll, and she recently spoke to Crooked Media's strict scrutiny about that case. Take a listen to what she said when asked about her previous comments to do something good with the awarded money. This enormous amount of money is startling. It's hard for me to even think about it. And then we're going to do some good with it.

Robbie and I are talking. We have ideas. He stacked the Supreme Court, took away women's rights over their own bodies. So that's just where I'd like to put the bulk when you get women's rights back. That's it. You can listen to that episode out today on the strict scrutiny feed. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week about whether or not Trump can appear on Colorado's Republican primary because of his role in the January 6th insurrection. So many thoughts, so many Trump cases to keep straight.

Thank you for keeping us updated on all of them. I know the man is supposedly rich, but does he have that kind of money? I don't think he has that kind of money. He ain't got this kind. Can you afford that? I don't think he can. And I don't think he's got this. I don't think those celebrity apprentice checks went this high.

You know what I mean? Right. Unfortunately for him, that's just a him and only him problem. So, best of luck with that. Right.

And those are the headlines. We'll be back after some ads to talk about music's biggest night. It's Friday, Watt Squad,

and for today's Tim Check, we're going to the grammys not quite but i'd be happy to change that if they want to give some invite trey val listen i give good fashions okay yes you've come in a great outfit i knew it that's exactly what i was gonna say if nothing else all right if nothing else okay anyway, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards are happening this Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in LA. I hate that we have to call it the Crypto.com Arena. But here we are. Disgusting. Nonetheless, we are so excited for a night of great music.

Hopefully some good looks on the red carpet. It looks like it might rain. Yes. So maybe folks need to bring an umbrella as a nice accessory. Who knows? Do we cover the carpet? Can we do that? Maybe like a little indoor-outdoor situation? You know, yeah. Just some thoughts. Just some thoughts.

Anyways, it is also a big year for women in pop music. Some of the top nominees this year include SZA, Victoria Monet, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Boy Genius, just to name a few. Yes, and if you are wondering where Beyonce is among this lineup, listen, I hate to inform you, okay,

that Renaissance came out in 2022. It felt like it came out last year, but it didn't, okay? So just let it go. Time isn't real. It's a construct. Everything and nothing is fine. I understand why you might have felt that way.

But Trayvon, I would love to know, what are you looking forward to at this year's Grammys? I am looking forward to Tracy Chapman performing. Okay? Variety is reporting that she is joining luke combs on the stage you'll remember that his country version of her song became this huge massive hit allowed her to break some records as a black woman in country music so absolutely looking forward to that there's also canada's icon of folk music j Joni Mitchell, performing. I find this interesting, not necessarily because I'm a fan of Joni, but because she's 80 years old. And I just feel like you have to give folks their due respect when they're still performing at that age.

That's awesome. And then last but not least, I'm excited to see Victoria Monet collect multiple awards. Okay. In her own words, she's been deep in her bag like a grandma with a peppermint. And so now she can add some Grammys to that bag. But what about you, Priyanka? What are you looking forward to the most? Listen, we all know what I'm looking forward to the most.

Taylor. I mean, it's not like I really care what Grammy she comes home with or doesn't. We all know she had an amazing tour, has amazing albums. I think that is just pretty far accepted at this point. But it is exciting. I'm excited to see what she wears. I'm excited to see if this prompts like a surprise album drop of some kind. I feel like there have been hints here and there.

I'm ready. But yeah, we all know. We all know the only thing I'm here for. Sorry. I have to ask because I know we all know. We all know the only thing I'm here for. Sorry. I have to ask because I know you will know this. Oh, will I? The weekend after the Grammys is the Super Bowl. Is the Super Bowl.

Right? Yeah. We know that Taylor will likely be at the Grammys. Yes, she will. Is that man going to be there with her too? Since everybody's talking about it. Yeah, everybody is talking about it. He came out and said that he will not be there

because he is practicing for the Super Bowl. That, I guess, makes sense. I feel like if I was his teammate and I was like, oh, the, I don't know what his position on the team is, but oh, like this important person on our team is at the Grammys at a party in LA instead of practicing for the biggest game of our lives.

I'd be pretty pissed. So it makes sense. That is a good thing. I do hope she can make it back in time from Japan for the Super Bowl because that is the perfect arc. That's the end of the season. That is what we deserve. I'm sure she will fire up the private jet and be where she needs to be. Okay.

And just like that, we have checked our temps. They are cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Always. Because such is life. Such is life. One more thing before we go, a reminder that starting this Saturday,

we are rolling out a sixth episode of What A Day, doing a deeper dive on the biggest stories of the week and answering the questions, how did we get here? Hosted by Aaron Ryan of Hysteria and Max Fisher from Offline, our first episode will ask the question, why does it feel like the Southern border is always in crisis?

Make sure to subscribe to What A Day wherever you get your podcasts to check this out. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, nominate WOD for a Grammy, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just how to get universal artists

back on TikTok like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. I'm Trevelle Anderson. And happy Groundhog Day. Do I have to watch the movie? No, I think you're okay without it.

Sorry, there's like three movies I will watch. Eloise, The Parent Trap, The Devil Wears Prada. That's it. I'm sorry. It's giving taste, Priyanka, okay? Thank you. I don't know if I feel like that was such a good thing to admit to the world, but... Here we are.

Yep, here we are. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our show's producer is Itzy Quintanilla. Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers. And our showrunner is Leo Duran. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.