Snapchat last week rolled out globally the music feature it launched in Australia and New Zealand earlier this summer. It means that users of the iOS version of Snapchat can now easily add music to their videos within the app, selecting tracks from a catalogue of top tunes.
That functionality was first piloted in Australia and New Zealand after Snapchat secured licensing deals from various record labels and music publishers, including Warner, BMG, Kobalt, Merlin and the publishing side of Universal.
Adding a library of tracks that users can sync into their videos brings Snapchat in line with rival TikTok, of course. And Instagram too, which likewise now offers such functionality with the Reels tool it rolled out around the world in August.
For the music industry, there are both licensing and marketing benefits when video-sharing apps start adding music libraries of this kind. And with that in mind, it's a positive move that having such libraries in-built is becoming something of a prerequisite for such apps.
As for the next audio innovation on Snapchat's agenda, when announcing the roll out of its Sounds music library last week the app company also stated: "Beyond music, we're also testing the ability for Snapchatters to create their own sounds and add them to Snaps - this will be rolling out globally in the coming months".