TikTok owners ByteDance launch new streaming service in China
The app features over 10 million songs but currently only works in beta mode
TikTok owners ByteDance have debuted a brand new streaming service exclusively in China, named Qishui Yinyue.
The app, which translates to "soda music" from Mandarin, lands after talks in late 2021 alluding to a brand new streaming service from the TikTok parent company under a provisional name of Feilo.
Qishui Yinyue was launched in competition with Tencent Music Entertainment Group’s platforms and NetEase, two of China’s major streaming companies, South China Morning Post reports.
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The app first appeared last month but currently runs in invite-only beta mode. Made exclusively for users in China, Qishui Yinyue was updated last Wednesday and now features over 10 million songs.
According to a representative from Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, the app was “built on Douyin’s continuous efforts in music”, using the same homemade algorithm used by TikTok, personalised for each user.
In a statement given by South China Morning Post, the representative also added: “Douyin launched it as a stand-alone app to better serve our users as well as artists in the industry.”
Qishui Yinyue will allow users to synchronise music from Douyin with the new streaming service, and continues to leverage Douyin’s ever-growing fanbase by use of the latest app.
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Last September, Chinese news outlet 36kr speculated about the release of a music streaming app from ByteDance’s Vice President of Product and Strategy, Alex Zhu, who had allegedly been working on the service for some two years.
The app was set to come under the name Feilo and the internal name of Luna. While the speculation carried through until last month, it looks as though this will be replaced by Qishui Yinyue.
Elsewhere, ByteDance launched a streaming service in direct competition to Spotify in 2020 exclusively to India named Resso, which now rivals the streaming giant.
[Via South China Morning Post]
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter