TikTok Music, a hypothetical new music streaming service, unveils a trademark filing in the United States. By surfing on the growing popularity of TikTok, ByteDance seems to want to nibble the market shares of Spotify and Apple Music, the two leaders in the sector.
As our colleagues from Business Insider report, ByteDanceparent company of TikTok, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office in May 2022.
According to the filing, visible in the organization’s database, the TikTok Music app should allow “to buy, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics”. Note that the mark was also registered in Australia last November.
Related: TikTok backpedals on personalized ads without user consent
Between streaming service and social network
According to this description, TikTok Music advertises itself as a competitor music streaming service to Spotify, Apple Music and others. But, according to the filing, ByteDance won’t be content to just mirror the competition’s offering. To get out of the game, the Chinese group would offer options close to those of a social network.
Indeed, TikTok Music would allow its users to “stream live audio and video”. On that side, the application, which would be both accessible on smartphone and computer, would approach the social network TikTok. It would also be possible “to edit and upload photos as a cover of playlists” and “comment on music, songs and albums”.
On this point, the service promises to be more interactive than the players already established on the market. We also imagine that TikTok Music would be elsewhere tightly integrated to the main application. This way, ByteDance could relay TikTok’s 1.2 billion users to its new service.
An evolution of Resso?
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Business Insider that “ByteDance only files trademark applications for products it is seriously considering.” These deposits probably augur the arrival of a new music streaming service in the arena.
This isn’t ByteDance’s first foray into the music business. In 2020, the Chinese firm has already launched Resourcea classical music streaming app, in Brazil, India and Indonesia.
In the filing, ByteDance mentions the presence of advertisements. De facto, it is possible that TikTok Music offers a free offer, with advertisements, like Spotify. To get rid of the ads, you would obviously have to subscribe to a paid subscription.
This is also the economic model chosen by Resso. For the time being, it is not known whether TikTok Music is designed as an alternative to Resso or as an evolution of it. Be that as it may, the arrival of TikTok risks reshuffling the cards in the music streaming market.
Source :
Business Insider