Music has been key to TikTok's rise, and the short video app is now testing out a new way to improve music discovery, with artists' songs listed on selected, verified musician profiles.
As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, the new test sees a third 'music' tab added to artist profiles. Tap on the music note icon to the left, and you'll see a listing of all of the artists songs that are available in the app. Users can then tap through to use these songs in their own videos.
It seems like a fairly logical, simple addition for TikTok, which will, as noted, assist in music discovery, while it may also help the app build better connection with artists, by giving them more profile options to help promote their music.
It's the latest in TikTok's profile additions aimed at getting and keeping influential users on board. Late last year, TikTok also began testing eCommerce links within clips.
By providing more ways for influential users to drive consumer behavior, and build their brands on the platform, TikTok gives them more motivation to keep posting, with direct links to their key revenue streams. For musicians, the music tab is more about promotion, but by providing a broader platform for establishing fan connection, it may make TikTok a more appealing proposition, and keep them logging in.
The focus on music is important for TikTok. Much like Vine before it, music is key to making its short, catchy videos more appealing, with trends formed in the app around specific songs and their varying interpretations.
Tap on a song from a TikTok video and you can see a listing of all the other videos in the app which have used the same track. You can then tap 'Use this sound' to add the same song to your own content, and contribute to the trend.
A year before it was shut down, Vine tried to tap into the same with its 'Remix' functionality, which enabled users to apply the same audio from any Vine clip for their own posts.
Also much like TikTok, Vine catapulted many little known artists to fame through these short, remix clips - but where Vine found problems was in monetization, and providing enough revenue generation potential to keep its most well-known creators from switching across to YouTube or Instagram, where more established revenue ooportunities are available.
TikTok's working hard to avoid the same fate - through its aggressive monetization efforts, and add-on features like this, TikTok will be hoping that it can create a more viable, profitable, and beneficial marketplace for its top creators, in order to keep them, and their fans, engaged in the app.
It's hard to know whether TikTok will succeed in this effort, and with various questions around its data collection and usage processes also lingering, it remains a questionable long-term bet, at least at this stage.
But if it can get it right, smaller additions like this could mean major opportunity for brands. If TikTok can keep high profile users posting, and keep their audience growing, that could be a big win for its future prospects.
TikTok's music listings are being tested with a small subset of users, with no word n a broader roll out at this stage.