Snapchat Takes On TikTok With Upcoming Music Feature

Logo by Snapchat and Tiktok as seen on Snapchat and Tiktok Website.

Snapchat has announced that it will begin testing a feature that allows its users to set their Snaps to music. While this relates a lot with TikTok’s offering, it is seen as Snapchat taking direct aim at the Chinese tech company to capitalize on the bans imposed by the Trump administration over privacy concerns. Snapchat looks to gain a part of TikTok’s audience, similar to other apps such as Dubsmash, Triller, Likee, and Byte. Another frontrunner in the race to bag a majority of TikTok’s audience is Instagram, which has recently launched ‘Reels,’ which are short music-centric videos.

With Snapchat’s new feature, its users can add music either before or after capturing the Snap. Snapchat has promised to provide “a robust and curated catalog of music” from which its users can select. Snapchat’s partnerships with organizations such as Merlin, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell, Warner Music Group, and NMPA publisher members, among others, provide the required licensing of music for use in Snaps.

Another great sub-feature is that users can view song titles, album art, and artist name with a simple swipe up. Along with this, a ‘Play This Song’ link will allow users to listen to the complete song through a web view to Linkfire on platforms such as Apple Music, SoundCloud, or Spotify. The ‘Play This Song’ feature is an add-on that TikTok users aren’t privy to. TikTok users could click on a video clip’s “sound” link, only to be directed to a page that features other clips with the same sound.

According to Snapchat, fans can form deeper connections with the music and its artist with the help of its music feature. Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram, all three combined, do not compare to Snapchat’s 90% reach of all 13- to 24-year-olds in the U.S.A. Additionally, Snapchat also boasts of a 75% reach of 13- to 34-year-olds in the U.S.A. Despite TikTok appealing to a more extensive International base, Snapchat claims to reach more users from the U.S.A than TikTok and Twitter combined.

This new feature from Snapchat is set to be rolled out in English-language markets this fall.