Great news for all the artists out there, whether you’re a well established artist or an emerging one, TikTok is launching a music distribution platform, SoundOn, to help more artists get their music heard, with the promise of giving 100% of royalties directly to artists, (or 90% thereafter).
TikTok’s influence in today’s music industry is huge, sending songs that find popularity on the app to the top of the Billboard charts. Now artists will be able to upload their music directly to TikTok and parent company ByteDance’s own music streaming service Resso, in addition to global streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tencent’s Joox and Deezer, with ZERO fees!! No distribution fees, no transaction fees, NADA!
TikTok says SoundOn will pay 100% of royalties to musicians and producers for an unlimited time on ByteDance-owned platforms. This includes not only TikTok, but video editing app CapCut, and Resso in large territories like India and Brazil, with all rights being retained by the artists.
For global streaming services, the payout is also 100% in the artist’s first year, but will drop to 90% in year two and beyond. By comparison, competitor DistroKid charges artists and labels on a subscription basis, while allowing artists to keep 100% of their earnings, while TuneCore charges for distribution on a per-song or per-album basis, but also promises artists to keep 100% of streaming revenues.
Other than its handling the mechanics of music distribution, SoundOn offers other promotional tools and support, including audience insights and development, advice from the SoundOn marketing team, access to TikTok’s song tab (where music is linked on profile pages), TikTok verification, editorial placements on Resso and CapCut, and promotional support through creator marketing on TikTok’s platform.
Say goodbye to a lot of major labels in years to come. Tiktok created a platform called ‘SoundOn’ and they’re giving 100% royalties to artists in year one and 90% after that 🤯
— Caesar 🇳🇬 🦅 (@Obaa_Charles) March 14, 2022
TikTok been making big moves lately. They partnered with music distribution company, TuneCore, to create their own distribution platform named SoundOn. During the 1st year, artists will get 100% royalties directly to them and 90% after that pic.twitter.com/0gVzemJ6du
— Da Spot (@dassspot) March 18, 2022
“TikTok creators are the lifeblood of our platform and the reason sounds become hits. When you release through our platform, our team will activate diverse creators to make videos with your track. This helps you broaden your fanbase and reach new communities that these creators are a part of.” SoundOn’s website mentions.
This could definitely encourage many new and emerging musicians to use the offering in the hope of garnering attention from influential profiles, thanks to TikTok’s viral trends. Fans then follow artists on music streaming services, where that loyalty is converted into *CHA-CHING* actual dollars and cents.
“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, in a statement about the launch. “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.”
The SoundOn platform had been in beta testing since last fall, and is now fully available in the U.S., U.K., Brazil and Indonesia, with an undisclosed number of artists and creators already using the service, including Games We Play, Abby Roberts and Chloe Adams in the U.K.
SoundOn is not TikTok’s first move into the music distribution space. The company in 2020 announced a deal with UnitedMasters, which became the first music distribution company to be integrated into TikTok.
To conclude, this is a HUGE opportunity for all artists, to reach new and bigger audiences while earning $$$ doing what they actually love – sharing their music. So, what are you waiting for?? Get joining!
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