TikTok Officially Launches SoundOn In Indonesia And Will Give 100% Royalties To Music Makers

JAKARTA - TikTok will be the top app in 2021 according to mobile app market research firm, App Annie, which released a report on the mobile app landscape in the first quarter of 2021. TikTok won the title as the application with the highest number of downloads, beating Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The high level of public enthusiasm for TikTok has made this application launch an independent music marketing platform called SoundOn. The platform allows artists and creators to upload their music directly to TikTok and to music streaming services belonging to parent companies ByteDance, Resso, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, and Joox.

This platform has been tested in various countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. There are a number of artists and content creators who have used the service. For example, Muni Long, Games We Play, Abby Roberts, and Chloe Adams in England. SoundOn will pay 100 percent royalties to music creators for an indefinite period.

According to TechCrunch, profits from music platforms that ByteDance doesn't own, such as Spotify, Joox, and others, will receive 100% royalties in the first year. But that number will drop to 90 percent in the second year and beyond. According to SoundOn's FAQ, artists will retain all rights and royalties, meaning they will own their master in addition to receiving 100 percent or 90 percent royalties.

“The creators of TikTok are the lifeblood of our platform and the reason why sound is such a hit,” the SoundOn website explains. “When you release via our platform, our team will enable a variety of creators to create videos with your tracks. This helps you expand your fan base and reach new communities of which these creators are a part.”

SoundOn also offers other promotional tools and support, including audience insight and development, advice from the SoundOn marketing team, access to TikTok song tabs, TikTok verification, editorial placement on Resso, and CapCut, and promotional support through creator marketing on the TikTok platform.

SoundOn's website notes that releasing via its platform will get the track ahead of the TikTok creators.

“New artists and music creators are a vibrant community within TikTok and SoundOn is designed to support them as they take the first steps in their careers,” said Ole Obermann, global head of Music at TikTok, in a statement about the launch.

Obermann also said that the SoundOn team will guide content creators on their journey to the big stage and bring TikTok's expertise and power to life for artists. "We are excited about how this will emerge and encourage new talent and how SoundOn will contribute to an increasingly diverse and growing global music industry," he said.

TikTok's marketing aspect of SoundOn's value proposition can make the service very attractive to new and emerging artists, as they understand that an extra push on TikTok can help them to get out and reach a wider audience, thanks to TikTok's viral trend. Fans then follow the artist on the music streaming service, where that loyalty is converted into actual dollars and cents.