Thanks to a new partnership, Apple Music subscribers will be able to listen in entirety to songs they discover on TikTok, without shifting over to the Music app.
While TikTok is best known for its shortform content, oddball advertising, and the whole US ownership shift situation, it's also a platform for discovering music. In a new feature announced on Wednesday, it will become a much better place for music lovers who also subscribe to Apple Music.
The new "Play Full Song" experience will allow TikTok users to listen to full-length tracks they find while doomscrolling through their For You Page, or from a Sound Detail page.
The Play Full Song button will offer to link the TikTok app to the user's Apple Music account. Once accepted, the song will play in its entirety, using an Apple Music player within the social app rather than being transferred over to the main Apple Music app.
Users are also able to save songs to Your Music and add them to their Apple Music playlists for later listening.
The new feature is one that doesn't leave artists and music companies out of pocket. Since the songs are played from Apple Music, built using Apple's MusicKit, the streams are paid under that service.
Listening Party
Leaning more on the discoverability element of the social service, TikTok and Apple Music have also made Listening Party, a feature for joint listening.
Fans can share a session, listening to the same tracks in real-time while interacting with each other. Artists can also set up their own sessions, so they can engage with their fans.
The features build upon the existing music app functionality in TikTok. Users can find out details about a song used in a video, then they can add it to music apps, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.
TikTok will be rolling out both Play Full Song and Listening Party globally to its users in the coming weeks.
