SAN FRANCISCO – Will musical artists favour TikTok over Spotify? The Chinese social network has unveiled SoundOn, its new platform dedicated to musicians.
The new space is being touted as a service that will pay artists according to the use of their music. A promise that could very well help bring big names on board.
Many artists have criticised Spotify’s system of payments, which they consider far too unprofitable for musicians. Criticism like this could cost them heavily at a time when TikTok’s is becoming increasingly prominent and powerful on the music scene.
The Chinese social network recently unveiled SoundOn, its new platform designed to pay artists in full. Artists will receive 100 per cent of the royalties during their first year on the platform and 90 per cent afterwards, and transaction fees waived on top of this.
By signing up to the SoundOn platform, artists agree to have their music distributed on TikTok as well as Resso, the music streaming platform owned by parent company ByteDance. However, musicians will still have the option of also distributing their songs on platforms such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music and will retain full control of their music.
In terms of compensation, TikTok remains vague. The artists will get money according to the frequency of use of the music on TikTok. In other words, the more a track is used in a video, the more the artist will be paid. TikTok did not reveal the amount for a listen.
