TikTok Returns as Official Entertainment Partner of Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (Might Want to Skip Those Universal Music Songs Though)

Photo Credit: Karl Hörnfeldt

TikTok returns for the third year running as the Official Entertainment Partner for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, the 68th edition of the world’s largest live music event.With over 589,000 posts for #Eurovision already, TikTok is poised as the Eurovision Official Entertainment Partner. With exclusive access and behind the scenes content, TikTok aims to reimagine the way the world’s biggest live music event is experienced.

That’s the lofty version put forth by TikTok, though this year’s sponsorship comes loaded with practical concerns — particularly as it relates to a pesky pullout by Universal Music Group.

Eurovision takes place this year in Malmö, Sweden, following Stockholm native Loreen’s victory in Liverpool in 2023 with her song, “Tattoo.” Sweden is no stranger to producing Eurovision winners, having delivered the legendary ABBA, who won the contest 50 years ago with their song, “Waterloo.” That track and the group’s win rocketed them to worldwide stardom.

Sweden has won the Eurovision song contest a record seven times, tied with Ireland. The country’s current winner, Loreen, is the first woman to win the competition twice, having first triumphed in 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Finland’s Käärijä, who took second place in Eurovision 2023, expressed excitement that his fan favorite “Cha Cha Cha” is trending on TikTok again in the face of this year’s Eurovision excitement. “I’m just a normal guy who wants to make music and make people happy. Now Käärijä’s going viral on TikTok — I’m so happy!”With TikTok as the contest’s official entertainment partner for a third year, fans can search for the dedicated hashtag #Eurovision2024, which will deliver a cornucopia of exclusive content and behind the scenes moments. Fans can also follow the Eurovision TikTok account for even more exclusive content, as well as their favorite Eurovision artists and TikTok creators sharing sneak peaks of their time in Malmö.

Now to acknowledge the elephant in the room: TikTok is notably under significant scrutiny in Europe as the European Commission has opened formal proceedings into whether the platform has breached the EU’s newly minted Digital Services Act.

This, coupled with ongoing licensing disputes with big name players like Universal Music Group, might make for serious issues for TikTok as Eurovision’s official partner. Any song owned by UMG cannot legally play on TikTok without express permission, as the major label has not renewed its licensing agreement with the ByteDance-owned company.

Other rights owners, including independent music publishers and even Sony Music Entertainment, could cut ties ahead of the splashy contest — stay tuned.