TikTok wants to take on Apple Music and Spotify, insists no risk on privacy
0Reported today on TechSpot
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TikTok wants to take on Apple Music and Spotify, insists no risk on privacy
ByteDance is feeling confident despite Washington's censorship fears
The big picture: TikTok is now a victim of its own meteoric success. US regulators are trying to pry open parent company ByteDance to see if it is a threat to national security, but that doesn't stop it from planning an expansion into music streaming.
ByteDance, the company behind popular app TikTok, is apparently planning to launch its own music streaming service to compete with Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and others. According to a report from the Financial Times, the Chinese company is currently in talks with major record companies like Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music to negotiate global licensing deals for a new subscription service.
ByteDance wants to set this new service apart from competitors by making it work as a big library of content that users can tap into and create their own fun videos where they sync with music. This has been the winning recipe for TikTok, which has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times if you go by Sensor Tower estimates.
The new app is also said to include a library of short videos that users could search through and sync to songs while they're listening. As with TikTok, the experience is geared towards sharing the resulting clips with friends, and the UI is designed for vertical use.
There is no word on pricing, but the company is reportedly aiming for a launch as early as next month. There is some speculation that its cost will match the $9.99 charged by the likes of Spotify and Apple. The Financial Times says ByteDance is planning a staggered release starting with emerging markets like India, Brazil, a