In a climate where most brands would give anything for a case study boasting 10x growth, PacSun recently hit the ultimate benchmark: 200,000 pairs of jeans sold via TikTok, generating $20 million in revenue.
But as the retailer is quickly learning, creativity without compliance is just a high-interest loan.
The very numbers that should be headlining quarterly business reviews are now being served as Exhibit A in a $43 million lawsuit from Warner Music Group. Seeking $150,000 in damages for each of the 290 instances of alleged music infringement, the label remixed a bop into a multimillion-dollar invoice anthem.
PacSun is just the latest in a growing gallery of high-profile offenders, including 14 NBA teams, Johnson & Johnson, and Chili’s. For years, the industry’s unspoken mantra has been “ask for forgiveness, not permission.” But as labels pivot from “whack-a-mole” enforcement to precise legal strikes, the industry is facing a reckoning: Our creative ambitions have outpaced our operational infrastructure.
The Business Affairs bottleneck
Working at the intersection of social and production, I see the gap daily. Social teams need to post at the speed of culture, yet “Business Affairs”—the gatekeeper of rights and clearances—remains a relic of linear advertising. We’re applying a 1990s legal framework to a 2026 feed.
Agencies are designed to spend weeks negotiating a single track for a TV spot, but a social lead needs to post a trending reel within 30 minutes. This friction has created a dangerous vacuum where “trusting the algorithm” has replaced due diligence.
The math simply doesn’t track. It can cost between $3,000 and $5,000 to clear a single commercial track with a label for one organic post on one platform. Multiply that by more than 20 influencers—all using the same trending Drake or Beyoncé snippet—and you aren’t just looking at a budget line item. You’re looking at a fiasco.
From “mute” to modern infrastructure
With nearly 85% of TikToks relying on sound and more than 44% of users buying directly through the app, silence isn’t an option. But neither is the status quo.
A major label recently disclosed it was tracking 22,000 brands illegally using between 10 and 20 songs per month. This is a gaping structural disconnect between how we create content and how we protect the enterprise.
Fixing this requires a fundamental shift in how we source sound. “Clearinghouses”—like Cipher and other pre-licensed libraries—are moving from niceties to requirements. These platforms are the first step toward a true ecommerce model for music. However, if you’re looking for a “see it, click it, buy it” solution for a Taylor Swift track, you won’t find one.
