TikTok owners to enter the music-streaming market

ByteDance is in talks with record companies for global licensing deals

Beijing technology company ByteDance are reportedly about to enter the music-streaming market 
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Beijing technology company ByteDance, which owns the video-sharing app TikTok, is about to enter the music-streaming market to challenge Apple Music and Spotify.

According to reports in the Financial Times, ByteDance, which was valued by Japanese investment group SoftBank at $75 billion (Dh 275 billion) last year, is in talks with big music labels, including Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, for global licensing deals to include their songs on its new music subscription service.

ByteDance is looking to launch its music streaming as soon as next month, initially in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil, before a future opening in the US.

In addition to on-demand music, ByteDance's app will include a library of short video clips for listeners to search through and sync to songs as they listen, the report added. Users would also be able to send these clips to their friends, as the app aims to encourage sharing and is designed for mobile phones.

ByteDance has not given a name to its music app yet and pricing remains unclear, although it is expected to cost less than the $10 (Dh37) a month charged by Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc and others in the US.

However, Apple is reportedly planning to counter this challenge by offering bundles, including Apple Music, News+ and TV+ subscriptions.

Launched just two years ago, TikTok has been downloaded 1.5 billion times, making it the third most downloaded non-gaming app of the year, after Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger apps, according to research firm SensorTower.