TikTok’s new SoundOn distribution service is powered by TuneCore
The platform is currently live in the UK, US, Brazil and Indonesia.
Image: Tolga Akmen / AFP
TikTok has seemingly confirmed that its freshly launched music distribution service, SoundOn, is powered by TuneCore.
This means that SoundOn’s distribution of music to streaming services – such as Spotify and Apple Music – will be handled through TuneCore.
SoundOn was announced last Wednesday (8 March) with the promise of letting music-makers distribute their music to major platforms through TikTok and they maintain “100% ownership” of their work.
The service’s royalty policies are also attractive: artists will receive 100% of royalties from the ByteDance-owned TikTok and Resso for an unlimited time, along with 100% of royalties from external platforms in the first year, and 90% after. It also offers professional tools to help artists grow their fanbases.
According to Music Business Worldwide, TikTok has been working with TuneCore since SoundOn’s quiet beta run in beta last year.
Ole Obermann, TikTok’s Global Head of Music, told the publication last September: “We’re making it easier for [independent artists] to get their music on TikTok, and we’re going to work with them to much better understand how to reach their audiences on TikTok.”
“Through SoundOn we’re going to organise the ecosystem of unsigned artists in a way that doesn’t exist today and has never existed before,” he added.
TuneCore’s own music distribution platform offers users two options of uploading to social platforms: Artists can upload without an annual fee in exchange for “a small share of revenues” or pay a sum per single or album upload and keep 100% of your revenue from streaming and downloads.
