TikTok’s ‘Add to Music App’ feature drives billions of streams and now partners with YouTube Music.

TikTok has been very busy lately expanding the platforms that are integrated with its ‘Add to Music App’ feature, which lets users save songs they found on TikTok to the music streaming service of their choice.

The latest addition, announced by TikTok on Tuesday (July 29) is YouTube Music. TikTok users who hit the ‘Add Song’ button next to a song name at the bottom of a video will have the song added to the ‘TikTok Songs’ playlist on their YouTube Music account.

Since it first launched the feature in the US and UK in November 2023, TikTok has rapidly expanded both the countries where the feature is available and the platforms integrated with it.

Beginning with Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, the feature was expanded to include South Korea’s Melon and France-headquartered Deezer last fall, SoundCloud this past May and Middle East and North Africa-focused streamer Anghami just a few weeks ago.

Amid now-resolved recent clashes certain music industry giants and its ongoing potential shutdown in the US, TikTok has been playing up its growing role in the music business.

‘Add to Music App’ is a key aspect of this strategy.

“Add to Music App continues to deliver real results for the music industry, with hundreds of millions of track saves translating into billions of streams on music streaming services,” said Tracy Gardner, TikTok’s Global Head of Music Business Development.

“By partnering with YouTube Music, we’re expanding this impact globally, helping artists reach new audiences while giving fans a seamless way to engage with the music they discover on TikTok.”

In its Music Impact Report released in February, TikTok said that Add to Music App had already resulted in a billion track saves as of that time.

“It is already positively influencing artist success and chart placements, and the most exciting thing is that we are just getting started,” said Ole Obermann, at the time TikTok’s Global Head of Music Business Development.

“Add to Music App continues to deliver real results for the music industry, with hundreds of millions of track saves translating into billions of streams on music streaming services.”

Tracy Gardner, TikTok

The integration with YouTube Music comes with a marketing campaign running in the US and UK, showing TikTokers how to use the feature.

The first time a user presses the ‘Add Song’ button at the bottom of a video in their ‘For You’ feed, they’re presented with a selection of music streaming services (YouTube Music now being one of them).

Whichever service they choose will become the default option and every time they press the ‘Add Song’ button, the song will be saved to that platform, but users can change the streaming service by going into ‘Settings’ and ‘Privacy’ in the TikTok app.

The latest expansion of Add to Music App shows TikTok is forging ahead with its music-focused strategy even as it faces a continuing legal headache in the US, where the “divest-or-ban” law requires the company to sell its US operations to non-Chinese owners or face an effective shutdown in the country.

President Donald Trump has extended the sale deadline three times since taking office, and the latest deadline stands at September 17. Speaking on Fox News Sunday (July 27), Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump administration wants to see the app under the control of a US-headquartered company.

According to a news report earlier this month, TikTok parent company ByteDance is working on a standalone app for US TikTok users. The new app is reportedly scheduled to launch in app stores on September 5.Music Business Worldwide