By: Nick Gambino
When I first started seeing ads for TikTok I couldn’t figure out if this was the best idea for a social media app or the worst. I was leaning toward the latter, but who could have predicted an impending global pandemic that would drive our collective artistic tastes into the basement.
TikTok and their unique take on remixing songs and dialogue proved to be a huge hit, bringing a new rival onto the scene to do battle with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Other platforms took note and came out with their own TikTok copying features like IG Reels and YouTube Shorts. Now it looks like Spotify wants to get in on the TikTok wave.
The music streaming platform is working on new features that will allow users to remix songs that are in the Spotify library, according to The Wall Street Journal. This new set of tools means you will be able to take a track and speed it up, mash it with other songs and do a ton of other editing moves to mold it into what you want.
After you manipulate the song, you can then save it to listen to (and I guess post?) as much as you want. I’m guessing that this would have to be an opt-in for the artist, especially if this is going to be shared outside of just personal listening. If the artist does opt in this could mean more revenue as the remix is linked to the original recording as opposed to how TikTok does it.
“TikTok and other platforms where we find heavily remixed songs by its users have an ongoing problem where artists are not being credited or compensated,” Andrew Tropeano, Host of News Around America (www.newsaroundamerica.com), said. “This is mainly due to the lack of a system that connects the remix to the original. Spotify’s new remix feature could set a precedent.”
If these features make it to a wide rollout we’ll most likely see different versions of these remix editing tools depending on the plan you’re subscribed to. A standard Premium subscription might have a few basic tools while a Supremium plan might be packed with all the tools.
