TikTok Signs Deal With Sony Music to Expand Music Library

Short video-sharing app TikTok said on Monday it had signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment that will give all its users access to Sony's portfolio of music including global artists such as Beyoncé, Martin Garrix, and Harry Styles.

The deal will allow Sony Music to use TikTok's platform, home to several viral Internet trends and where emerging artists have garnered fans quickly, to promote its artists.

In its announcement, TikTok said that the social media platform's creator community will gain access to current hits, new releases, iconic classics, emerging favourites, and deep cuts across a range of genres. TikTok and Sony Music will also work together to drive greater levels of user personalisation and creativity on the video platform. TikTok will also work together to create opportunities for fan engagement with the music label's leading artists.

TikTok's global music head Ole Obermann said, “Especially during this time when the artist community is challenged to find new ways to reach fans with their music, we are committed to working together to do just that.”

The partnership comes a day after the US Commerce Department said it would "vigorously defend" an executive order that seeks to bar transactions with Chinese-owned TikTok after a federal judge halted the action.

TikTok signed similar deals with UK-based non-profit Merlin earlier this year, in a bid to expand its music library and a multi-year partnership with Paris-based Believe, a music platform for independent artists, in July.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

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