“In the Mix” shows off TikTok’s pop music power. What can it do as a podcast?

On two separate occasions, TikTok has put together live music performances headlined by A-list pop acts. The first of those shows, subtitled In The Mix, took place in 2023 and featured  widely-watched live performances from big names like Cardi B and Anitta. A little more than two years later, TikTok brought stars like Demi Lovato to its stage for a memorable Live Fest.

Those shows had a lot in common. They both paired recognizable celebrities with up-and-comers whose artistic careers have been boosted by TikTok. In both cases, TikTok was making a clear statement: The world of pop music flows through our app, and we have the connections to prove it.

The big difference between In The Mix 2023 and Live Fest 2026 is TikTok itself. Much has changed for the app over the past three weeks, and I’m not just talking about all the regulatory drama in the U.S. When In The Mix hit Arizona three years ago, TikTok was preparing to launch a platform called TikTok Music

, which would harness its pop culture cachet to rival Spotify and YouTube.

But TikTok Music never made it to the United States, and the app now seems content to partner with other music services rather than launching one of its own. As a business decision, that makes sense — music streaming is a difficult industry to break into — but the decline of TikTok Music felt like a missed opportunity. In The Mix reinforced TikTok’s claims as a pop tastemaker, but leveraging that influence to build hot new products has been easier said than done.

That’s where the In The Mix podcast comes in. As it produces events like Live Fest, TikTok is eager to join the bandwagon and bring more video podcasts into its library. With so many distributors vying for exclusive rights to major podcasts, building a competitive library can be arduous and expensive. Thanks to its foothold in the music industry, however, TikTok has been able to craft a show that will bring some star power into its nascent podcast library.

In The Mix is hosted by Jack Coyne, the TikToker best known for hosting the music trivia account Trackstar. After getting Lovato as an inaugural guest around the time of TikTok’s Christmas-themed Mariah Carey special, Coyne has now dropped episode two of In The Mix. Rising country Megan Moroney is the guest for that installment.

@tiktok tour deets may or may not have been dropped in the full ep idkkkkk 🤭💞 @Megan Moroney tune in to the full episode of TikTok In The Mix, presented by @T-Mobile ♬ original sound – TikTok

If TikTok wants to become a serious force in the podcast world, it will have to add some more genres to its “mix” moving forward. At the very least, however, the app has figured out a smart way to put its tastemaker status to use. Its connections to pop stars may not lead to a TikTok Music platform, but they can keep Coyne busy in between Trackstar uploads.