TikTok Inks Deal With Merlin to Use Music From Independent Labels 6l224i Technology News

TikTok has also opened an office in Los Angeles to advance its ambitions in the US. y2qk

By Agence -Presse | Updated: 24 January 2020 10:28 IST

TikTok Inks Deal With Merlin to Use Music From Independent Labels

Photo Credit: Lionel BONAVENTURE/ AFP 4p215

TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social networks in the world

Highlights

TikTok on Thursday licensed a catalogue of independent music
It will facilitate use of the short-form video service for promotions
TikTok opened an office in Los Angeles to advance its ambitions in the US

ment

TikTok on Thursday licensed a catalogue of independent music as it worked to build on the momentum of the social networking app specialising in video snippets. The deal between TikTok and Merlin, a digital rights agency for independent music labels, is designed to help facilitate the use of the short-form video service for promotions. Financial of the deal were not disclosed. Merlin chief executive Jeremy Sirota said: "Merlin are increasingly using TikTok for their marketing campaigns, and today's partnership ensures that they and their artists can also build new and incremental revenue streams."

London-based Merlin said its roster of spans more than 60 countries and includes tens of thousands of independent record labels, distributors and artist management companies.

The news came as TikTok opened an office in Los Angeles to advance its ambitions in the US.

"Located between the innovative tech companies in Silicon Beach and the streaming content companies at Hayden tract (in Los Angeles), TikTok truly sits at the intersection of technology and entertainment, physically and figuratively," TikTok US general manager Vanessa Pappas said.

"While we are a global company, having a permanent office in LA speaks to our commitment to the US market and deepens our bonds with the city, and the talent and companies, that call it home."

TikTok, launched by Chinese company ByteDance in September 2017, has quickly become one of the most popular social networks in the world, with young people its main market.

In November, the app hit 1.5 billion s worldwide, outperforming Instagram.

s typically post short clips of themselves performing skits, lip-syncing and dancing.

But TikTok has come under scrutiny recently over whether it censors content deemed sensitive by China's authoritarian rulers.

TikTok said in a statement in October its operations were not influenced by the Chinese government.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.