TikTok’s parent company may launch a new music streaming service in China
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance are reportedly looking to launch music streaming service ‘Feile’ in China by the end of the year.
A report from new site 36KR suggests ByteDance are looking to break Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music‘s rule over music streaming in China. According to the report, the streaming service, tentatively named Feile and internally referred to as Luna, could launch as soon as this year.
While we don’t know much about the platform, development is said to be lead by Alex Zhu, the VP of products and strategy at ByteDance, previously the co-founder of Musical.ly, which was acquired in 2017 and merged with TikTok. To stand out from the competition, Feile may implement aspects that have made TikTok popular, such as the short-form format and algorithm tuned recommendations.
ByteDance already have experience of developing and launching a new music streaming service with Resso. Resso had a soft launch in India and Indonesia at the end of 2019, before an official launch in India in March 2020. ByteDance already have licenses with major players thanks to TikTok and Resso.
Feile will have to overcome the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on idol worship currently affecting tech companies, especially those with young users.