The parent company of popular video app TikTok is developing a paid music service that can launch as early as September, according to a report by Bloomberg. The service will directly challenge Spotify, Apple Music and a host of other local music streaming services in emerging markets. The report said that ByteDance Ltd, owner of TikTok, has already secured rights from T-Series and Times Music, two of India’s largest labels, according to executives with those companies.
ByteDance, based in Beijing, plans to initially launch the new app in a handful of territories, mostly poorer countries where paid music services have yet to garner large audiences, according to the report. The report further added that the new app isn’t named after TikTok, but ByteDance will try to convert some of TikTok’s audience into its paying customers. TikTok was the most downloaded free app in India in the first quarter of the year.
The new app will include a catalog of songs available on-demand, as well as video. The app has been demonstrated to many music industry executives, which hints that it has already been developed enough for operational use, said the report.
It added that ByteDance is yet to secure rights from the world’s three largest music groups -- Universal, Warner and Sony. A deal with them is important if ByteDance wants to expand in Europe, Latin America or North America. TikTok and its Chinese equivalent Douyin have been downloaded more than 500 million times and have become two of the most influential apps in the contemporary music industry.
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