TikTok is working tirelessly to make all your favorite apps obsolete. It first came for Facebook and Instagram. Next up: Spotify.
The video app is already having a big impact on what music flourishes and what music fails in 2022. So it’s not particularly surprising that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music” in May, according to patent filings seen by Insider.
TikTok Music would allow people to buy, play, share and download music and create, share and recommend playlists. Sounds like all the features we love about Spotify! The main difference seems to be that you’ll be able to comment on music and play live audio and video, depending on the sign-up.
But Spotify will be a tough app to beat, even for a giant like TikTok. While other apps and platforms fell, Spotify maintained “healthy” and “strong” growth in music and podcast advertising, according to Bloomberg. Snap Inc., Roku Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. (which owns Facebook and Instagram) have faced extremely sluggish ad revenue, which has fallen by double digits. And Spotify was spared, probably because it has a smart business plan and provides users with exactly what they want.
It’s unclear when TikTok Music will actually launch — or if it ever will. Filing a patent is not automatically the same as launching a platform.
Either way, it would be fun to watch Spotify lose to TikTok.
