Audius, a decentralised music streaming service has partnered with TikTok to allow artists on the platform to upload their music to the platform. The video-sharing app, TikTok will rely on Audius as the sole music supplier for its “TikTok Sounds” library.
The partnership gives Audius a competitive edge in the entertainment industry. TikTok is currently the to-go-to social platform for both entertainers and content consumers. Top musicians like Lil Nas and Olivia Rodrigo all have TikTok for their ground breaking success. Users currently rely on TikTok to find new artists. A report by the social media platform indicates that 75% of its users find new musicians through the TikTok videos.
By Audius availing the music on TikTok, it is looking to help the musicians using the platform reach this massive audience. Already, it has more than 100,000 artists listed on its platform. It does this by making it easy to access the music by these artists. Most of these artists have small to mid-sized audiences and they can do with more exposure that comes with TikTok. However, for the established musicians on the platform, they use it as a place to reach the audience for their in-progress and unreleased music.
Audius allows the users to simply upload music and share them on TikTok within less than a minute. It currently has more than 5M monthly users who will enjoy the new feature.
As one of the relatively new music streaming platforms, the deal by TikTok is more like a coup in the industry. Started in 2019, it operates as the decentralised version of Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform. However, for Audius it does not pay musicians directly from royalties. It instead, allows them to monetize their art whichever way they please. For example, they can sell them in the form of Non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The creators and other community members can also be awarded through Audius native token, AUDIO, for their contributions on the platform.
What does the partnership mean for the future of blockchain in art?
For the longest time, blockchain technology has been all about finances and other industries like insurance and legal. It was only a matter of time until blockchain took over the entertainment industry.
The industry can work with the security of the blockchain to help secure it from copyright breaches. It can also work best for entertainers to follow through with their royalties due to automation.
Even as the blockchain world moves to the music industry, it does not have to do away with the existing facilities. The partnership between Audius and TikTok is an example of how blockchain-based services can partner with the existing industry services. There are indications that more services will still partner with TikTok. The video-sharing giant has more than 1 billion users who can benefit from the various music services on the platform.
The Audius fast growth within the few years of its existence is another indication of blockchain’s popularity in the entertainment industry. As more people are getting conversant with the blockchain, so will it be more integral in various human activities. For now, the partnership between Audius and TikTok sets the tone for future developments.