Social media platform, Snapchat is now testing a TikTok like music feature for its app. This will allow the users to add their favorite music to the videos recorded on the Snapchat application. For the unaware, TikTok allows users to embed popular songs with the recorded videos. This feature will soon be making its way to the Snapchat app as well.
Snapchat’s parent company, Snap has allegedly signed multiple music-right deals. Those deals were signed with major companies like Warner Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Merlin.
Well, TikTok is facing all sorts of trouble for its operations, especially in India and also in the US. Microsoft has shown interest in buying TikTok’s operation in the US. While Trump administration is pretty keen on banning this Chinese social media app in the country. Meanwhile, in India, the app is banned, along with other Chinese apps. That was done to counter the threat posed by these applications to the country’s sovereignty and security.
Snapchat has begun testing this feature from Monday in New Zealand and Australia
This new music feature has gone under testing for users in New Zealand and Australia starting on August 3, 2020. While the global users will get their hands on this feature, somewhere this fall. Snapchat will then collect all the feedback from the users and implement fixes for any issues found with this new feature.
Moreover, using this feature, Snapchat users will be able to embed their snaps with music. Users will also be able to view the song info, album art, name of the artist, etc. Notably, a link to play the full song on a streaming platform like Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud will also be added.
A Snapchat spokesperson in an email statement told The Verge that this feature will help users to share music with “real friends.” This hints that the company is looking to go after TikTok. In the email, Snap also added that its app “reaches more people in the U.S. than Twitter and TikTok combined.” Notably, this is based on public data available.
Snap also added that it will have “a robust and curated catalogue of music” from all the signed major music companies. Besides, the spokesperson claimed that this feature is not meant to share music with a public audience like on TikTok.
All in all, Snapchat is looking to exploit the little opening build due to uncertainty around TikTok’s future in the US. Only time will tell whether this move from Snapchat is a hit or a miss.