The music streaming service, available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico, will be discontinued on November 28th, 2024.
Users can continue to use the service until then, but renewals will be automatically canceled. Playlists can be transferred to other streaming services by October 28th, and refund requests must be submitted by November 28th.
TikTok will focus on partnering with other music streaming services rather than competing with them. In February, they launched the “Add to Music” feature, allowing users to add tracks to Apple Music, Amazon Music, or Spotify directly from TikTok.
TikTok Music was originally launched as Resso in India and Indonesia in 2019. It was rebranded to TikTok Music in 2023 and expanded to Singapore, Australia, and Mexico. However, Resso was banned in India earlier this year.
TikTok has become a popular platform for music discovery, driving streams for artists. A study by TikTok and Lumiate found that TikTok significantly increases value for artists via streaming and fuels music discovery.
Bytedance, which also owns SoundOn, a music distribution platform, likely aimed to leverage TikTok’s popularity to drive streams within its own ecosystem. However, TikTok Music failed to expand internationally beyond a few markets.
TikTok has also faced challenges with the music industry. Earlier this year, Universal Music Group pulled its music catalog from TikTok due to disagreements over royalties. However, the two parties eventually reached a new deal.
ByteDance’s plans to expand TikTok Music to markets like the U.S. may have been hindered by the ongoing legal battle against a bill that could potentially lead to TikTok’s ban in the U.S.
