Having successfully scared Facebook and Instagram (but we repeat ourselves) so bad that they’re desperately trying to copy the magic, TikTok may now be coming for Spotify’s turf. Insider reports that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music,” a new service that will let its users “purchase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics… live stream audio and video… edit and upload photographs as the cover of playlists.. [and] comment on music, songs and albums.”
TikTok is already a major player in the streaming music game, since a song’s journey to the top of the charts often begins as a TikTok dance or a soundtrack to a viral video. Past songs like the Mountain Goats’ “No Children” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” have surged anew because of TikTok fame, and contemporary artists like The Weeknd and Rosalía rely on TikTok. In fact, many artists have said their labels pressure them to create more viral TikTok content, since the social media app is such a vital part of entertainment industry success. But an actual streaming music platform would represent a whole new step in TikTok’s growing dominance, and may put pressure on streamers like Spotify and Apple Music to TikTok-ify their own interfaces and algorithms.
Actually, such competitors may be able to get a glimpse of what a TikTok Music app would look like by peeking at Resso, ByteDance’s music streaming app available exclusively in India, Brazil and Indonesia. There’s no word on how much TikTok Music, if it ever exists, would pull from Resso, but it’s proof this company has dabbled in music streaming in the past.
