For years, TikTok has been one of the main places for music discovery online, from launching the careers of artists like Lil Nas X and Ice Spice to resurfacing years-old hits and driving them to new peaks on the Billboard charts. But now, TikTok wants to be the place where users actually listen to the songs they find through trending sounds and friends’ viral videos. According to Variety, the sometimes controversial company has launched its own “social music streaming service” with music licensed from the “Big Three.”
However, stateside music fans may have to wait a while to get to use it; for now, the new service is only live in Brazil and Indonesia as a premium-only service (this is likely a test to see how it’ll do in markets that are still relatively small but significantly-sized to provide insight into how the service will perform here). Users will be able to sync with their existing accounts to download or share tracks they discover on TikTok. Presumably, if it’s a hit overseas, it’ll only be a matter of time until it’s incorporated into other markets.
Ole Obermann, global head of music business development at TikTok, said in a statement, “We are excited about the opportunities TikTok Music presents for both music fans and artists, and the great potential it has for driving significant value to the music industry.”
