TikTok has put its standalone music service live in Australia, Singapore and Mexico.
It began piloting in those markets back in July, shortly after the full launch of TikTok Music in Brazil and Indonesia, countries where TikTok owner Bytedance was already operating the music streaming service Resso. TikTok Music has now replaced Resso in those places.
Confirming the full launch in Australia, Singapore and Mexico, Bytedance's Global Head Of Music Business Development, Ole Obermann, says: “We are pleased to publicly launch TikTok Music, a new kind of service that combines the power of music discovery on TikTok with a best-in-class streaming service”.
“TikTok Music will make it easy for people to save, download and share their favourite viral tracks from TikTok", he adds. "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".
A bunch of new features have been added alongside the launch, including a music discovery personal assistant powered by ChatGPT called Tonik. Because who'd want a music streaming app that didn't have some in built AI?
Do you know what else most people would want built into their music streaming app of choice? The Universal Music catalogue. That’s what.
But, according to MBW, while the major's catalogue is available on TikTok Music in Indonesia and Brazil, it is not currently included in the new markets. Possibly because TikTok at large is still busy negotiating a new licensing deal with Universal that, among other things, covers its music service in markets beyond where Resso use to operate.
TikTok told MBW: “Our goal is to offer our users a full catalogue of music. We are in active discussions with Universal".