Bytedance to launch Spotify-like music streaming app
Bytedance, the Chinese company behind short-video platform TikTok, plans to launch a Spotify-like music streaming app.
TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly launching a music streaming app
According to reports by South China Morning Post, the company has dedicated 100 staff to the project and plans to launch the app “soon”.
The news comes as the company faces pressure from music labels such as Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, which are demanding Bytedance pay more for its music licensing deals.
Bytedance is also under pressure in India where it is attempting to appeal a High Court decision to ban downloads of its hugely successful TikTok app. India is an important market for the brand, which has 120 million monthly active users there.
It follows a string of bad news for the brand which was publicly shamed by a BBC investigation which questioned the brand’s safety credentials after revealing Bytedance failed to suspend the accounts of people sending sexual messages to children via the app.
In February, Bytedance was slugged with a $5.7m fine in the US after it was found to have illegally gathered the details of users under the age of 13.
Bytedance is currently valued at $76bn and is referred to as the world’s most valuable unicorn.