TikTok started as a Chinese karaoke application in 2016, but its platform for short videos with commercially licensed music placed it in the ideal position to replace previous short-from video apps like Vine and cater to younger generations’ increasingly shorter attention spans for digital content.

TikTok had a unique background and advantage in that it already had deals in place with a variety of music licensing companies before it took off as a short-video format. 

This is why TikTok is one of the few digital applications where, if you create your video in-app, you can use commercially licensed music. If you try and download your video, whether to share it on Instagram or any other platform, TikTok prevents you from downloading the audio alongside the video. This is because you only have access to copyrighted music from within the TikTok platform. Once you download that audio, and especially if you share it to another platform, it becomes illegal copyright infringement.

The TikTok audience is known for being younger and trendier than other platforms’ typical viewers. TikTok is the newest app to enter the social media sphere, using the combination of video content, music capabilities, and an endlessly-scrollable discovery algorithm to keep people interested and entertained.

TikTok’s discovery algorithm lets people get content feeds with posts from people they don’t follow, as well as posts from people they do. The algorithm uses your interests and reactions to other content to decide what you might like, and let you scroll endlessly through it, forever training your algorithm on your preferences. This gives TikTok an interesting advantage for sharing content, because your content is likely to be seen by potential new followers as well as current followers. This discoverability is a key differentiator between it and other social media platforms.

The music capabilities in TikTok are also unique to almost any other platform. TikTok’s longstanding history and relationships with record labels and music distributors gave them early access to being an application where users could legally create videos using copyrighted music. Even if the music has to stay within the app, it’s an exciting way to normalize background music in videos.

TikTok has a young audience, engaging discovery algorithm, and exciting music capabilities, making it a great place to grow your influence. These features make TikTok a opportunity for your brand - not to mention a fun place to take inspiration from! See what type of videos and music are trending, and then create your own.

With royalty-free music from Loudly, you can add an original touch to your videos, making them shareable on TikTok and other platforms as well.