There were rumors of TikTok working on their own streaming service floating around in late 2021, and it turns out those rumors were (sort of) true. TikTok has just announced their new "all-in-one platform for music marketing and distribution" SoundOn, which as of today is available in some markets across the world.
According to TikTok's press release, the platform allows artists to upload their music directly to TikTok and distribute to other platforms. SoundOn then pays 100% royalties to the artist in the first year, "and 90% after that." It's not clear why there's a 10% drop between years and if that math applies to all streaming services, or if that's just the math for SoundOn royalties through TikTok specifically.
"New artists and musical creators are a vibrant community within TikTok and SoundOn is designed to support them as they take the first steps in their career," said Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music at TikTok. "Our SoundOn teams will guide creators on their journey to the big stage and bring the expertise and power of TikTok to life for the artist. We're incredibly excited about how this will surface and propel new talent and how SoundOn will contribute to an increasingly diverse and growing global music industry."
SoundOn is fully available in the US (here), UK, Brazil and Indonesia (here for the rest).