YouTube Music Joins TikTok’s ‘Add to Music App’ — Discovery Feature Has Driven ‘Well Over a Billion Track Saves,’ Platform Says

Another day, another music-focused expansion from TikTok, which has confirmed YouTube Music’s “Add to Music App” integration.

The ByteDance-owned video giant formally announced as much today, after rolling out Add to Music App in late 2023 and expanding the tool last year. Capitalizing on TikTok’s discovery capabilities, the feature, as its name suggests, enables users to save videos’ music to dedicated streaming apps.

Participating platforms include Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud (which inked a related deal in May), and Anghami (which came aboard earlier in July). Now, YouTube Music is also getting in on the song-saving action.

The Google-owned DSP didn’t provide a statement for the Add to Music App announcement, but TikTok global head of music business development Tracy Gardner touted the “hundreds of millions of track saves” recorded by the feature thus far. (Per the release itself, “the feature has generated well over a billion track saves.”)

“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,” Gardner proclaimed.

“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,” concluded the former Warner Music exec.

Meanwhile, TikTok’s music-buildout efforts aren’t confined to Add for Music App. Since July’s start alone, the platform has launched a “Songwriter Features” beta and kicked off another singing competition, this time in partnership with iHeartRadio.

Of course, these moves have arrived against the backdrop of a decidedly uncertain future for TikTok in the U.S. Though the ban threat is hardly new, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently warned that the popular platform will go dark “very soon” unless the Chinese government green-lights its sale.

Time will tell whether that all-important approval – presumably tied to broader trade discussions between the U.S. and China – materializes.

On one hand, an agreement was reportedly close to wrapping back in April, and TikTok has reportedly been assuaging advertisers’ concerns. Additionally, evidence has pointed to the long-underway development of a States-specific TikTok version and a willing stateside buyer.

On the other hand, multiple TikTok execs have jumped ship, and to reiterate the obvious, a signed-and-sealed deal still hasn’t been publicly announced. However, the involved nations’ trade officials reportedly agreed today (pending final approval from the president) to extend a tariff pause, and the current TikTok ban deadline won’t arrive until mid-September.