TikTok Kills Its Own Music App to Focus on Partnerships
The music streaming app from popular video platform TikTok that was seen as a potential threat to Spotify has now been discontinued.
TikTok Music, available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico, will cease operations globally on November 28th. This marks the end of TikTok’s own music subscription service in the five countries it was currently available.
The company has cited its focus on driving music exploration and discovery through its “Add to Music” feature instead. This tool allows TikTok users to save songs they find on the platform directly into playlists on mainstream music services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
It is believed TikTok made this decision partly due to a shift in strategy towards partnering with existing streaming giants rather than competing against them. A spokesperson said the “Add to Music” function has helped music streaming services significantly by facilitating hundreds of millions of track saves.
The goal now is to maximize TikTok’s role in sparking music listening and revenue for rights holders through third-party apps. TikTok Music launched last year in Indonesia and Brazil under deals with the major record companies but replaced an earlier ByteDance music app called Resso in those regions.
