Watch out (Source: Mematic)
In November, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told Bloomberg that “only the paranoid survive.”
Spotify is extremely popular. It has 381m users, some of whom are likely reading this right now. So why the paranoia?
Well, you see, Ek is smart. He’s seen Gen Z bow down to TikTok and stray away from the almighty Facebook and Instagram.
But what’s TikTok got on Spotify, a music platform?
The answer: Its own music platform.
It’s called Resso, and the strategy TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is using is a clever one. It focuses on 2 things:
- Emerging markets: Resso was first launched in Brazil, Indonesia, and India, places Spotify must target if it wants to grow (which it does).
- Gen Z: Resso’s main attraction is social features that let you interact with friends around your favorite tracks.
But what’s the real difference?
Look no further than the top 5 artists of 2021 on Spotify and TikTok to see the Gen Z gap.
- Spotify: Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake, Justin Bieber
- TikTok: Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Popp Hunna, Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B
If you don’t know the TikTok artists, it’s because you’re old.
Today, 75% of US TikTok users find new artists on the app, and 63% discover new music on TikTok before any other platform. Reminder: TikTok has over 1B users worldwide.
Instead of finding a great artist on TikTok, then heading over to Spotify to listen, TikTok wants users to head over to its own Spotify, Resso.
Most of all, TikTok has the hearts of Gen Z, which, going into 2022, is arguably more powerful than a clever business strategy.
