TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has until Saturday (April 5) to sell the platform’s U.S. operations or face a potential ban. But despite the ongoing pressure, the company is continuing to expand its presence in the global music industry.
This week, TikTok began a soft launch of TikTok for Artists, a new service offering tools for musicians. Artists can now access analytics on how their music performs on TikTok, what content fans engage with, and features to help promote upcoming releases.
As first reported by Music Ally, the service had already been in limited beta testing. It is now rolling out in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. More markets are expected soon, according to MBW.
Similar to offerings from Spotify and SoundCloud, TikTok for Artists gives musicians tools to track trends and run campaigns. It includes support for pre-save links tied to Apple Music and Spotify countdowns. The platform is free to use and requires a verified artist account to sign up.
The landing page is live globally, though full feature access is limited to the initial rollout countries for now.
In recent years, TikTok has increasingly formalized its role in music discovery. The company already runs SoundOn, a distribution service for artists. However, not all of its music initiatives have lasted. In 2023, TikTok shut down its own streaming service, TikTok Music, which had launched in several countries.
The platform’s growing involvement in music comes at a time of uncertainty. Under legislation passed last year and signed by then-President Joe Biden, ByteDance was given a deadline to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations. President Donald Trump extended the original deadline to April and has recently suggested another delay is possible.
Several potential buyers have reportedly shown interest, including Oracle, Perplexity AI, a group involving Blackstone, and Amazon. While negotiations have taken place involving Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, it remains unclear whether ByteDance is prepared to sell – or what terms would be accepted.
