ByteDance plans music-streaming expansion to take on Spotify - WSJ
FILE PHOTO: The logo of TikTok's parent company ByteDance is seen at its booth during an organised media tour to the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone Exhibition Center in Beijing, China February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo
(Reuters) - China's ByteDance Ltd is in talks with music labels for expanding its music-streaming service globally to compete with industry leaders such as Spotify Technology SA, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The TikTok parent plans to eventually integrate music streaming within its short-video service and scale it to serve as a major platform for distributing music globally, according to the report that cited people with knowledge of the discussions.
Shares of Spotify pared gains to trade flat in after-market trading on Wednesday, while Warner Music Group Corp gained 4 per cent.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The company had discussed in recent months launching its Resso music-streaming service, currently available in India, Indonesia and Brazil, in more than a dozen additional markets, but expansion to the United States isn't immediately on the cards, according to the report.
