TikTok Music is officially closing down worldwide.
In just over a year of operations, ByteDance, the platform’s owners, announced that TikTok’s streaming service will be shutting down this upcoming November 28, 2024. “We would like to thank you for all of your support, and we hope you enjoyed the music,” the company said in an official statement shared to their official website.
Opening up to Billboard, Ole Obermann –– TikTok’s Global Head of Music Business Development –– told the publication that the company’s streaming service would be ceasing operations due to a renewed focus for the company “in order to focus on our goal of furthering TikTok’s role in driving even greater music listening and value on music streaming services, for the benefit of artists, songwriters, and the industry.”
TikTok Music was first teased in 2022 and launched internationally in July 2023, though it was not able to officially launch in Philippine markets. While the service seemed to emerge as a direct competitor to existing streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, Obermann said Add To Music represented “a direct link between discovery on TikTok and consumption on a music streaming service” –– which allowed it to be “easier than ever for music fans to enjoy the full-length song on the music streaming service of their choice, thereby generating even greater value for artists and rights holders.”
The news of the platform’s shut down follows the app’s rocky relationship with the music industry, with Universal Music Group (UMG) withdrawing its artists’ music from the platform in January, as a result of both parties’ inability to work out a new deal when their previous agreement expired. However, the two companies announced a “new chapter” earlier this May, with a new licensing agreement that will reportedly “deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI”, as stated by a joint press statement released at the time.