ByteDance Filed a US Patent Application for a Device That Can Play Music

The new patent application is among hundreds that ByteDance is currently processing. In March this year, Bloomberg Law reported that the company has over 900 active patents in the US alone, with 600 more pending. Additionally, according to the Insights Gate investigation, it had 9,000 patents globally in October 2023, with 7,553 still active.

Many of these patents are related to music, including the TikTok Music streaming platform, which was first patented in 2022. The company’s latest innovation is a device designed for music playback, detailed in a patent application titled “Method and device for music play,” filed in December 2023. This appears to be a continuation of an application originally filed in 2022 in China for the same innovation. Both applications are still pending.

In the patent summary, ByteDance explains: “Users may play music through electronic devices,” but “the music play mode of the conventional music apps [offer a] lack of flexibility, and therefore the play effect is unsatisfied” [sic].

As further demonstrated in the document, the device has three main components. The first is a “method for music play,” featuring a “target application for playing music” and an interface. The latter consists of an “operation control for enhancing a play effect of the music through at least one processing, the processing being used for representing music content in a way more than sound.”

The “second aspect” is described as “an apparatus for music play” with similar interface controls. The “third element” of the invention should be “an electronic device comprising at least one processor and memory.”

Additional attributes of the potential device include a flashing light source, flashing screen, and vibration features that respond to changes in music playback, such as beat points, voice changes, and instrument sound changes. The company further adds in the filling: “The change point of the voice and/or the instrument sound may include a volume change point, a timbre change point, and a tone change point.”

Creating a device to play music with might not seem groundbreaking, especially in an era where iPods, MP3s, and MP4 players have become obsolete. However, with the success of TikTok, could ByteDance’s new device become the next must-have gadget? Time will tell!