TikTok with less music? That doesn’t sound like a step forward, does it? Could the app be scaling back its use of music? As Bloomberg recently reported, TikTok is supposedly running tests among some users in Australia that will restrict their capacity to add music to their clips. So, musicless TikToks? It feels a bit lacking.
As Bloomberg puts it:
“TikTok is limiting the number of songs that users can post on its app, an experiment to assess how much they value music in their videos. Content creators won’t be able to use certain songs, the company said in a statement.”
Toning It Down
The idea, as suggested by Bloomberg, is that TikTok is looking to put a dollar value on the use of music in the app as a sort of bargaining chip for its future negotiations with music publishers. TikTok owner ByteDance has sought to negotiate lower payments on music usage in the app, arguing that music isn’t as crucial to the TikTok experience as publishers suggest.
That sentiment has also expanded to other ByteDance apps – Sony Music removed its music from ByteDance’s music platform, ‘Resso’ last year after negotiations broke down regarding a viable payment structure. It now seems that ByteDance is trying to further prove that TikTok doesn’t need music as much as publishers think. As such, it’s not really moving away from music, but more using this experiment to seemingly gain more leverage in future negotiations.
The bigger question here is how potentially removing, or at least pay-walling, music will impact brands and creators. Well, to be fair, brands are already restricted in the sound options that they can use in clips, with TikTok’s royalty-free Sound Library set to remain aside from these explorations. However, it looks to be an entirely different story for users. Removing music for users might see a change in how music is used in the app, and how it drives trends, particularly if TikTok is forced to remove some songs because of failed negotiations.
Then again, that might be blowing things out of proportion. In any case, there’s no final verdict yet, and the most that we do have is a small-scale test. What’s important here are the results and what they mean for the next steps.
The Wrap
If usage remains high, despite some songs potentially disappearing, maybe that’s enough for ByteDance to cut back on its payments to music publishers. As noted, the test is underway for selected songs in Australia. If it does end up expanding, it won’t necessarily mean that we’ll kick music on TikTok goodbye, but more likely that tests will be conducted in other countries and demographics.
Please note:
This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin.
Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
