TikTok is reportedly cooking something that might put Spotify and the likes on the edge. The ByteDance-owned app is reportedly working on its own music streaming service.
According to Insider, TikTok music service would let users “purchase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics… live stream audio and video… edit and upload photographs as the cover of playlists.. [and] comment on music, songs and albums.”
Owning a music service is not entirely new to ByteDance; the Chinese company owns a music streaming app called Resso. Resso is available in India, Brazil and Indonesia, and has some of the features mentioned in the upcoming TikTok music platform.
ByteDance first submitted the trademark application in Australia, and then filed in the US on May 9th. In the description, ByteDance said you could “live stream audio and video interactive media programming in the field of entertainment, fashion, sports, and current events.”
There has not been an official confirmation of this report, but things should unravel in the next couple of weeks.
In other news, TikTok users below the age of 18 years could soon have restricted access to livestream on the platform. The company is testing as a new setting that lets users restrict their livestreams to viewers below 18 years of age.
TikTok has already confirmed the test to TechCrunch; and is currently only available to a limited number of users.
A screenshot shared by Watchful.ai, a product intelligence company, show that testers can now navigate to their settings to toggle the “mature themes” button to restrict their LIVE to adults. According to the screenshot, “only viewers 18 and above can see your LIVE” if your turn it on.
Once the setting has been turned on, TikTok will notify you that LIVE videos tagged 18+ will be removed if they violate its community guidelines that include policies on nudity, violence, and sexual activity.
Perhaps, it is important to state that the new restriction setting is not an indication that TikTok has relaxed rules that have to do with posting explicit content on its platform. The company instead, is adding a new way to help creators restrict who can access some content when they go LIVE.
“We’ve heard directly from our creators that they sometimes have a desire to only reach a specific older audience. So, as an example, maybe they’re creating a comedy that has adult humor, or offering kind of boring workplace tips that are relevant only to adults. Or maybe they’re talking about very difficult life experiences,” explained Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok’s U.S. head of Issue Policy, in a briefing with reporters last February. “So given those varieties of topics, we’re testing ways to help better empower creators to reach the intended audience for their specific content.”
