TikTok and Apple Music team up for “Play Full Song” and “Listening Party” features
TikTok and Apple Music have gotten together to turn TikTok into a smoother and more social music streaming experience.
TikTok and Apple Music are teaming up – not for the first time – to bring new music features to TikTok users. A new “Play Full Song” feature will enable TikTok users with Apple Music subscriptions to listen to entire songs without having to leave the TikTok app. Additionally, the two companies are creating an experience that lets users enjoy music together in a social environment.
What is the “Play Full Song” feature?
Before now, TikTok users could use the “Add to Music App” to save and listen to songs that they discovered while using TikTok. This feature enabled users to go and listen to songs on partnered DSPs, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music. Using this feature added songs to a “TikTok Songs” playlist on a chosen DSP, and, while useful, did add extra steps to being able to enjoy a track.
As 9to5Google points out, this new feature is an integration that has been built with Apple’s MusicKit framework. Users will be able to listen to full songs without the friction of switching apps, which should streamline the music discovery process on TikTok.
While listeners can enjoy music in full on TikTok, the feature makes it clear that Apple Music is the source of the music. Music Ally explains that when a user chooses to “Play Full Song” via a button, a full-screen player opens in the app, displaying a clear “From Apple Music” label. This also means that the royalties and licensing are paid and managed respectively by Apple.
What do we know about the “Listening Party” feature?
The second feature that TikTok and Apple Music are working on together centres around the “Listening Party” concept.
The feature lets artists start a listening party for their fans on TikTok, enabling artists and fans to comment and chat within the app during the experience.
Just like the first feature, Apple Music powers the music aspect of the listening parties on TikTok. Music Ally reports that it appears that users who do not have an Apple Music subscription can still participate in listening parties, they just won’t be able to hear the whole stream.
Just like TikTok’s “Add to Music App”, the “Listening Party” feature could expand to work with more providers, like Spotify or YouTube Music down the line.
What’s next?
Both of these features are still in beta, meaning they aren’t yet available to everyone on TikTok. Presumably, after some more testing and a trial period, the features will roll out more widely.
Listening parties are nothing new – Spotify added a Listening Party feature back in 2024 -, but with a heavy focus on connectivity across the board, they seem to be enjoying a moment in the limelight. Building connection and community between fans and artists solidifies TikTok as a music space that people can hang out on and discover new favourites. We can expect both of these features to develop and gain additions in the coming months to reinforce this idea.
Apple Music is currently offering a 3-month free trial, available until the 24th of February, so you can get the most out of these features if/when they become available.