EasyOde: TikTok’s Company ByteDance Launches Music Licensing Platform for Content Creators
A New Player in the Music Licensing Market
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EasyOde: TikTok's Company ByteDance Launches Music Licensing Platform for Content Creators · Source: ByteDance
ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has created a platform called EasyOde that specializes in royalty-free music for various digital media. Although there have been few official announcements about the launch, the platform is already online and offers access to an extensive library of music and sound effects that can be used for short videos, commercials, games and other audiovisual projects. This development suggests that ByteDance is looking to strengthen its position in the global and highly lucrative music licensing business, similar to what companies like Epidemic Sound are already doing. But is there a music AI behind this?
Music for Commercials, Social Media & More – EasyOde Launches Worldwide
The exact way EasyOde works is based on a curated library of currently 60,000 royalty-free tracks available for various types of media productions. Users can upload videos for which they are looking for suitable music, and the platform automatically suggests suitable tracks from its database. In addition, there is a music customization feature that allows users to upload a reference track to receive similar music suggestions. If no suitable track is found, the platform allows for customization through a music customization service based on up to five provided reference tracks.
A particularly interesting aspect of the platform is its connection to ByteDance’s SAMI (Speech, Audio & Music Intelligence) team, which has done extensive research on AI-generated music in the past. Back in 2023, it was announced that ByteDance had developed a generative music AI called MeLoDy, based on a database of 6.4 million audio files, totaling 257,000 hours of music. It is unclear whether and to what extent these AI technologies are integrated into EasyOde. Officially, the platform states that all the music it offers is either composed by producers or created in collaboration with studios. Nevertheless, the connection to AI research raises some questions, especially with regard to future developments in the field of automated music composition.
ByteDance Aims to Change the Music Licensing Market
A look at the corporate structure behind EasyOde shows that the platform is operated by BytePlus, a subsidiary of ByteDance that specializes in AI-based services. BytePlus was founded in 2021 and markets machine learning, data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies. ByteDance has already acquired several trademarks for BytePlus in the US, including machine learning for music generation. This could indicate that the platform may rely more heavily on AI-based music production in the future, although the platform has not yet officially confirmed this.
In its terms of use, the platform emphasizes that all tracks available on EasyOde are either licensed or directly created by the platform. At the same time, the terms of use clearly refer to the protection of intellectual property: users must confirm that all the content they upload is either their own or legally licensed. This is EasyOde’s response to the ongoing debate about artificially generated content and its copyright protection. The global music industry is watching these developments with great interest, as platforms like EasyOde have the potential to fundamentally change the music licensing market.
With EasyOde, ByteDance could create an alternative to established music licensing platforms and secure another foothold in the music business. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent artificial intelligence will be integrated into the further development of EasyOde. However, with a large catalog of usable sounds and automated music customization, the platform has already taken a big step towards AI-based music licensing.
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One response to “EasyOde: TikTok’s Company ByteDance Launches Music Licensing Platform for Content Creators”
This is awful. Bye bye music licensing industry.