TikTok takes on Spotify and Apple, launches own music service

NEW DELHI – Chinese short-video-making app TikTok has launched a subscription-based music streaming service to take on market leaders Apple and Spotify.

The company launched the subscription-only music streaming service called “TikTok Music” in Australia, Mexico and Singapore, reports TechCrunch.

The expansion comes about two weeks after TikTok launched the music streaming service in Brazil and Indonesia. TikTok Music lets users sync the service to their existing TikTok accounts and listen, download and share songs. The service includes the catalogues of major record companies, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music.

“TikTok Music is a new kind of music service that combines the power of music discovery on TikTok with a music streaming service offering millions of tracks from thousands of artists,” a spokesperson for the company was quoted as saying.

“We are now beta testing TikTok Music in Australia, Mexico and Singapore, and will have more news to share on the launch of TikTok Music in the coming months,” it added.

According to the report, the company has invited users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore to participate in the TikTok Music closed beta test. All participants in the closed beta will receive a three-month free trial of the service. TikTok Music subscription will cost $8.16 per month in Australia, $6.86 in Mexico and $7.48 in Singapore, the report mentioned.

The TikTok app is already a popular tool to discover music, and it is often used to help popularise songs after they have been used in viral videos. By providing users with a way to listen to and discover music, the company is directly competing with Spotify and Apple.

TikTok Music lets you play full versions of viral TikTok songs, discover personalised music recommendations, access lyrics in real-time, create collaborative playlists with friends, import your music library and find songs via lyrics search, the report said.