TikTok rival Triller is being sued by superstar producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.
The pair are demanding $28 million in missing payments related to Triller’s acquisition of their song battle brand Verzuz, which Triller acquired in early 2021.
Verzuz was originally launched by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz in March 2020 during lockdown on Instagram Live.
The live-streamed beat battle event took off, with its creators going on to ink a partnership with Apple Music in July 2020, before it was acquired by Triller in January the following year.
As reported by Rolling Stone, the suit, filed in a court in Los Angeles on Tuesday (August 15), claims that Triller missed one of its required payments in January after closing the deal a year prior.
Rolling Stone reports further that the suit notes that Verzuz’ creators, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz (Kaseem Daoud Dean and Timothy Mosley), then agreed to a settlement with the platform, for which it made its first payment in February.
Triller was then required to pay $18 million in March, and $1 million per month for the following 10 months. The suit claims that Triller hasn’t made any of these payments to Timbaland and Swizz Beatz yet, and the pair are now seeking the full $28 million via the lawsuit.
News of the lawsuit comes just a few months after Triller filed to go public on the Nasdaq. The company announced in June that it would be going public on the Nasdaq via a Direct Listing.
Triller said that “global macroeconomic conditions” had resulted in its decision to pursue a direct listing and to axe a previously announced merger with SeaChange. Triller said in June that it expected its new, solo Nasdaq flotation to be approved by Q3 2022.
This week’s news also follows a lengthy report from The Washington Post in June alleging that dozens of Black creators are struggling to get paid by the platform after signing deals with it.
Triller CEO Mahi de Silva told theThe Washington Post: “We specifically take pride in our role in creating a platform that celebrates Black creator content.” He added: “No other medium has done as much as Triller has for this often overlooked and underrepresented part of the creator economy.”
“We do not wish to air our dirty laundry in the press, but we have paid Swizz and Tim millions in cash and in stock. No one has benefited as much from Triller to date.”
Triller, in a statement to Rolling Stone
In a statement issued to Rolling Stone, Triller stated that it wants to resolve the dispute with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz “amicably and quickly”.
The company added: “This is truly unfortunate and we hope it is nothing more than a misunderstanding driven by lawyers.
“We do not wish to air our dirty laundry in the press, but we have paid Swizz and Tim millions in cash and in stock. No one has benefited as much from Triller to date.”
Meanwhile, last month, Triller published an open letter from its CEO calling for “every American” to delete its rival TikTok.Music Business Worldwide
