TikTok owner ‘planning music streaming app in China’

The news follows Tencent Holdings and its music platform Tencent Music Entertainment’s (TME’s) recent ban on exclusive deals with global labels in China by the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) in July. 

Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok, is overseeing the development of the new app. ByteDance reportedly started working on the app in 2019 and the new service will be headed by its vice-president of product and strategy, Alex Zhu. 

ByteDance will secure licensing deals with record labels for the new app, and work with independent artists. Artists who aren’t featured on rival services will be a key differentiator for the new app, according to 36Kr’s sources. 

ByteDance has experimented with music platforms numerous times. In July, TechPlanet reported that it was testing a music distribution service for independent artists called Yinhefangzhou, or Galaxy Ark. In March last year, the company launched a music streaming service called Resso in India. 

In July, Tencent, which houses several music streaming services including QQ Music, KuGou Music and Kuwo Music, was slapped with a fine of 500 000 yuan (about $77 000) by the SAMR and given 30 days to end its exclusive deals in China after a local anti-trust clampdown.

The probe into TME’s exclusive licensing agreements with the three major record companies began in 2019. The South China Morning Post in July said that Tencent would be allowed to keep its exclusive deals with independent artists for a maximum of three years.