Be sure to upload your music files in WAV format, and your artwork with the dimensions 3000 x 3000 pixels.
How to get your music on TikTok and Resso
The streaming and social landscape is always evolving. It can be hard to keep up. In this article, we are going to guide you through one of the world’s fastest-growing social media platform, TikTok, as well as the rising streaming site, Resso — launched by TikTok’s parent company. Let’s get straight down to business and tell you how you can get your music on TikTok and Resso app.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a social media app that allows users to create and share short videos set to music. TikTok was originally launched in China under the name Douyin, in September 2016. In 2017, TikTok was launched for markets outside China. TikTok and Douyin are based on the same software but use different networks to comply with Chinese censorship restrictions. TikTok is available via the App Store and Google Play store in 154 countries across the world.
TikTok enables everyone to be a creator. It gives TikTok users a platform to share their passion and creativity through video. In November 2022, TikTok reported having1 billion monthly active users worldwide, making it one of the largest platform in terms of users, ahead of other social channels such as Pinterest, Snapchat, and Twitter, which have all been around much longer.
The Importance of Tiktok for Musicians
The allure of TikTok for musicians is its audience. Compared to other social platforms, TikTok’s audience is predominantly between the age of 10 and 29 — opening up a new market for artists’ music to be discovered. As its popularity has grown, the uptake with older TikTok users has grown too. This older audience is now beginning to understand the power of TikTok and is converting to its unique social experience.
Social media is having a tremendous influence on the music industry, sending tracks and artists to the top of the charts. And TikTok is at the pinnacle of these new changes. TikTok operates differently from streaming sites such as Spotify or Apple Music — a song isn’t popular based on its overall streams, what matters most is how many people are using it in their video. Amazing news for independent musicians looking for global exposure.
Can I Make Money With Tiktok?
Yes, you can. TikTok pays royalties. The app has licensing deals with numerous labels and music distributors — including iMusician.
TikTok’s motto is “where trends begin” — and they’re not wrong. In October 2020, Popp Hunna’s “Adderall (Corvette)” soundtracked 27.1 million videos and generated $35,087 for Popp Hunna in only 90 days. The #WAPchallenge, which spread across the platform throughout summer 2020, boosted Cardy B’s Spotify followers by over 400,000 in 28 days.
The impact TikTok can have on Spotify streams and listener growth is massive. If your music is featured in a popular video, you could see your song heading into the charts. For now, the royalties aren’t huge, but this money is an added bonus alongside promoting your music on such a pivotal music platform.
What is Resso?
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, launched its own streaming app called Resso in April 2020. Described as a “social music streaming app”, Resso is competing against music streaming’s biggest players. Resso is not only a streaming platform, it also has social-friendly features: users can share song lyrics on other platforms, comment on titles, or stream their own content. As of March 2021, the app is available in India, Indonesia, and Brazil. We expect ByteDance to roll out to other countries throughout 2021 and beyond. A lot of major music companies are already on board with Resso, such as Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Beggars Group, and Merlin, as well as big publishers in the Indian market, including Saregama, T-Series, Zee Music, and many more.
What Resso Offers to Its Users?
Resso follows Spotify’s example by offering two choices of subscription: a freemium account with ads and lower stream quality (limited to 128 kbps), and the premium account which streams at a higher quality of 256 kbps. With the premium subscription, customers can also download music and listen offline. It costs $1.35 (€1.21) on Android and $1.62 (€1.45) on iOS.
How to Upload Music on Tiktok and Resso
As an independent artist or band, you can’t add your own music directly to shops like TikTok or Resso. To distribute your music to these platforms, and other streaming sites and download shops, you need to work with a digital music distributor, like iMusician, to submit your tracks. We act as the broker between artists and popular music platforms. We make sure that your releases are properly delivered to each platform and guarantee that your music is distributed with the correct metadata.
With iMusician, your music stays online forever and you don't have yearly or monthly fees to keep your tracks in stores! We distribute your music to the widest range of streaming and download services worldwide, taking care of all the admin tasks along the way.
Follow those 5 steps to get your music on TikTok & Resso:
PT30M
Audiofiles in .WAV format
Artwork in .JPEG or .PNG format (3000x3000 pixels)
Metadata
iMusician App
Create your release and select TikTok in the shop selection
Be sure to include the first and last names of all contributors.
Our QA team will contact you directly if anything needs to be corrected.
iMusician Doesn't Stop at TikTok
iMusician allows you to add your music to the widest range of stores worldwide, including electronic music stores like Beatport, Traxsource, and Juno Download. We’ve got you covered.
FAQs
How can we help you?
You can’t just upload your music directly to TikTok. You need to add it to the app’s library via a digital distributor, like iMusician. We will take care of all the hard work for you. There’s no registration fee, yearly renewal fee, or unnecessary paperwork. Your music stays online forever!
TikTok combines its total revenues and then calculates how much is owed to you for your content. When you make your music available on TikTok through your distributor, you give millions of users permission to use your tracks in their videos. Your distributor will then collect the revenue owed to you based on how many times your music has been used.
It’s a similar process to submitting music to TikTok. To distribute your music to Resso, you need to submit your music via a digital music distributor, like iMusician. If you sign up with iMusician, we can distribute your music to both platforms easily.
You can only use the full catalog if you have a personal or a creator account; with business accounts, you can't use non-commercial sound.