The new streaming service from TikTok owner ByteDance has officially launched in India. Said service, called Resso, began beta testing in both India and Indonesia last year.
India, of course, is a very crowded marketplace for music streaming, it being a priority market for Spotify, Apple and YouTube, all of which are competing with existing India-based platforms JioSaavn and Gaana. Resso is seeking to distinguish itself by offering more interactive and social features than its rivals, encouraging people to create and share visual content through the app with other users.
For the official Indian launch lots of local and most global music companies have licensing deals in place. Though one very big global player is missing, that being Universal Music.
Some have speculated that that might be linked to Bytedance's Chinese competitor Tencent's recent deal to take a stake in the mega-major. Although there are plenty of other reasons why Universal may not have yet signed on the dotted line - after all, Warner Music has held out on Spotify in India as it seeks better deal terms. Plus, Resso's interactive elements also require some extra rights to be bundled into its licences.
Both free and paid-for options of Resso are available.