TikTok turns the SoundOn to get emerging artists paid

For aspiring musicians, TikTok can help get the word out. Now, the social video app has launched a dedicated music platform that will amplify its homegrown artists — while getting them paid in the process.

The platform is called SoundOn, and it is currently available in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, and Indonesia. It promises to help artists verify their identity, license their music, and distribute it across multiple platforms.

One major selling point of SoundOn is its revenue structure. Musicians who partner with the platform will maintain all rights to their master recordings, and they will take home 100% of any royalties they earn on Bytedance-owned platforms. That includes TikTok, of course, but also Resso, the music streaming app Bytedance launched in 2020. Resso has become quite popular, especially in India and Indonesia, though it is not yet available in the U.S.

SoundOn users can also distribute their music across global platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora, and for the first year, 100% of the royalties earned there will go to the artists. After that point, TikTok will cut itself in, taking 10% of royalties.

Up-and-coming artists are the ones who can benefit the most from the visibility TikTok provides, and that’s exactly the class SoundOn is targeting. Early partners in the U.S. and U.K. include Muni Long, Games We Play, Abby Roberts, and Chloe Adams.

“SoundOn has created a space where anybody can be exactly who they want to be,” Long said in a statement. “No matter your background, your upbringing, your race, your creed, your age, you can enter the space and claim your place.”

The launch of SoundOn comes at a time when there is a lot of conversation about the best ways to get TikTok creators paid. This solution may only apply to a single community, but for those songsters, SoundOn really sings.