Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, April 24 (TMTPOST) — TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has recently started testing its music streaming app Qishui Music. 

Qishui Music is a music streaming platform designed for young users who enjoy trendy music, according to ByteDance. The music platform focuses on alternative music and recommends songs to users based on their preferences.

In addition, Qishui Music’s account is also linked to TikTok’s Chinese sister app Douyin. This means that follows, fans and music collections on a Douyin account can be shared with Qishui Music.

Different from counterparts such as QQ Music, NetEase Music and Kugou Music, Qishui Music has a simple user interface design, according to China Business Journal.

The new music streaming platform from ByteDance has a small music library due to the lack of licenses, which is the platform’s biggest shortcoming so far. China Business Journal noticed that the platform has only uploaded some songs from popular artists like Jay Chou.

Social media feature is an important way for music streaming platforms to stimulate user interaction. Qishui Music’s founder Wang Lei wishes to build Qishui Music as the Bilibili in music. Bilibili is a popular video site in China that allows users to post bulletin comments real-time on videos. However, Qishui Music has not displayed its social features yet.

ByteDance has already penetrated the music market through Douyin before developing its dedicated music streaming app. Short video platforms, such as Douyin, have become an important channel for music to gain popularity in recent years.

Nearly 80% of music artists would promote their music through short video platforms. In 2021, almost all songs on Tencent Music Entertainment’s Top Ten Popular Songs of the Year were popular songs on Douyin.