05/08/2020
Snapchat is adding a TikTok-style music feature.
Snapchat will soon let you add music to the videos you record, making it the latest social app to take on TikTok by offering the ability to embed popular songs. The announcement comes as President Trump threatens to crack down on TikTok and Instagram plans to unveil its own TikTok competitor in the coming weeks.
Snap said it would launch the feature to English-language users this fall, with it rolling out first in New Zealand and Australia starting today. The feature could let Snapchat gain some of the energy and creativity users are currently bringing to TikTok, but it seems as though this isnโt being designed as a full-on TikTok competitor.
For now, it sounds like there wonโt be a feed of videos set to music, and there wonโt be a way to see other videos featuring the same song โ two features key to TikTok. A Snap spokesperson emphasized that itโs designed for sharing music with your โreal friends.โ That said, Snap knows that TikTok is the target here. In an email detailing the new feature, Snap said that, โbased on publicly available data,โ its app โreaches more people in the U.S. than Twitter and TikTok combined.โ
