A New “TikTok Music” is on the way to compete with Spotify, YouTube music and Apple music

TikTok is well-known for its short videos, but because the platform is frequently used to discover new music, Parent company ByteDance would be wise to introduce a TikTok-branded music app.

An Insider story quoted a patent for “TikTok Music” was filed with the US Trademark Office by its parent company ByteDance on May 9th 2022. The filed document notes that TikTok would allows users to buy, play, share, and download music, create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, and stream audio and video live.

The document also indicates that TikTok Music could introduce a social element to music streaming, distinguishing itself from existing players in the U.S. market.

TikTok Music filed under the ability to “comment on music, songs, and albums”—a feature that Apple Music and Spotify do not yet offer. Over the years, users have repeatedly suggested adding a comments section to Spotify but the idea never received enough traction. 

TikTok is already a hub for discovering and rediscovering music. Both Spotify and Apple Music’s top curated playlists are now dominated by songs that first went viral on TikTok.

In 2021 alone, roughly 430 songs surpassed 1 billion video views when used as TikTok sounds, and over 175 trending songs on TikTok later charted on the Billboard Hot 100, according to a TikTok report. 

Insider’s report claims the potential “TikTok Music” could pull its user base directly from the current app. That’s a strategy ByteDance used to grow another music discovery app called Resso that the TikTok team runs in three international markets: Brazil, India and Indonesia.

TikTok in Brazil added a button to its app that redirected users to Resso when they wanted to hear the full-length version of a song, the Information reported.

Resso describes itself as a “social music streaming app” and has striking similarities with the features that TikTok Music is seeking a trademark for, according to TechCrunch.

The app encourages its users to share lyrics, comments, and tracks with each other. And like the TikTok video app, music automatically starts playing as soon as someone opens Resso.

TikTok started in September 2016 as social media platform and is the first Chinese-owned app to really threaten Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. A potential ‘TikTok Music’ app with the branding will give big players like Spotify, YouTube Music and Apple Music something to worry about.