TikTok’s Surprise: How will its music streaming compete against Apple Music?

Usama AnjumLast Updated: Jul 11, 2023

We have good news for all the music lovers. The famous social media platform TikTok is launching a music streaming service called ‘TikTok Music.’ TikTok Music runs in a similar manner as other famous music streaming platforms like Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, etc. The streaming music service allows users to access a vast collection of songs and then add them to a library.

Furthermore, TikTok Music has collaborated with major music records, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music.

TikTok uses an algorithm to offer song recommendations along with personalized curation to assist users in searching for songs that have gone viral on the social media platform. The addition will certainly appeal to the young generation who often become enchanted by certain music on Tiktok videos. Moreover, there are options to make collaborative playlists, import music libraries from other platforms, and search for any music by typing the lyrics.

Additionally, TikTok has added a song identification feature that functions similarly to Apple’s Shazam. The streaming service also allows users to interact with social features, which include comments on songs and albums. To attract users, the service also has a discoverability feature that allows users to look for song suggestions just by scrolling.

Currently, TikTok Music is only available in Brazil and Indonesia. In Brazil, the monthly subscription is priced at $3.49, just like Apple Music. Streaming platforms often adjust prices to suit different markets. In the US, Apple Music costs $10.99 per month.

However, it should be noted that the music streaming market is a competitive one with Apple Music and Spotify being the leaders. As per the latest report, Spotify remains the biggest streaming service in the US, with more than 44 million paid subscribers. On the other hand, Apple Music takes the second spot with 32 million paid subscribers.