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Oct 13, 2022 - Economy

Report: TikTok parent ByteDance aims to go after Spotify, Apple Music

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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming music services could face global competition from TikTok, WSJ reports.

Why it matters: The app's parent company, ByteDance, is dangling the power that TikTok has to help songs go viral in new negotiations with music labels, according to WSJ.

Details: ByteDance wants to turn TikTok into a major streaming music platform, eventually.

  • To get there, the company has discussed launching its Resso music streaming service in more than a dozen markets, using TikTok to promote songs, which could lead people to subscribe to music.
  • Another strategy is to integrate Resso into TikTok to make it easier for artists promoting themselves on the platform to make money through streaming, according to the report.

State of play: ByteDance and music labels disagree on TikTok’s promotional value, sources tell the Journal.

  • Existing deals that allow TikTok to access snippets of songs have hit snags over similar valuation disagreements.
  • ByteDance has not responded to requests for comment.

What to watch: Resso is currently only available in India, Indonesia and Brazil, with very few users paying.

  • Shares of Spotify did not move after hours significantly on the news Wednesday afternoon.
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