What you need to know
- TikTok may be planning to develop its own music streaming service.
- A USPTO filing suggests that a “TikTok Music” service is in the cards.
- The service’s streaming experience may also be mixed with social elements.
TikTok is taking its fight to Spotify and other music streaming platforms as it looks to expand beyond the short-video segment, according to a trademark application filed by its parent company, ByteDance.
The Chinese internet giant has filed a trademark application (opens in new tab) for a music streaming app to be known as TikTok Music, as spotted by Business Insider (opens in new tab). The application was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May, though it has yet to be assigned to a lawyer for review. The same application was filed in Australia last November.
According to the filing, the service will be applicable to mobile phones and tablets, allowing users “to purchase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics, quotes, create, recommend, share his/her playlists, lyrics, quotes, take, edit and upload photographs as the cover of playlists, comment on music, songs, and albums.”
From the looks of it, TikTok Music will be more than just a simple app for streaming music. It is likely to incorporate social elements — something you don’t often find in many of the best music streaming services. If TikTok makes this a reality, it will give Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music a run for their money. This is especially true given that those platforms do not yet allow users to comment on songs and albums.
But TikTok Music won’t be ByteDance’s first music streaming platform, assuming it comes to fruition. The Chinese company already offers a similar app called Resso in select markets, including Brazil, India, and Indonesia. According to TechCrunch (opens in new tab), Resso shares many of the features that ByteDance wants to include in TikTok Music, such as the ability to share lyrics and post comments.
The service gained traction despite its limited market availability by piggybacking on TikTok, from which Resso draws the vast majority of its user base. TikTok Music appears to be heading in the same direction.
Android Central has reached out to ByteDance for a statement and will update this article when we hear back.
