Snapchat tests adding music to posts

Snap Inc. announced on Monday that Snapchat will test adding music to its posts to allow users to share music and the music industry to promote its songs.

Snapchat’s parent company has secured the rights from music companies like Warner Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group and Merlin to permit users to send snaps with music. 

The feature will allow users to swipe up on posts that include music to see the album art, song title and name of the artist, according to a press release. Users can click on the “Play This Song” link to listen to the entire song on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.

“We’re always looking for new ways to give Snapchatters creative tools to express themselves,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Music is a new dimension they can add to their Snaps, that helps capture feelings and moments they want to share with their real friends.”

Snapchat will first introduce the music feature in New Zealand and Australia starting on Monday. The company plans to expand access to the feature later this year, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. 

Snapchat is following in the footsteps of Instagram and TikTok with the music feature. The company said in the release that it has a higher number of users in the U.S. than Twitter and TikTok together and that it reaches 90 percent of people aged 13 to 24.  

Social media has served as an outlet for people to share music or media with music, and with Snap Inc. securing the rights, users will not have to worry about copyright rules or the removal of posts. 

Other social media platforms have made moves to secure music rights, including Facebook, Twitch and TikTok. As these platforms secure music rights, the music industry will earn revenue and be able to promote artists. 

“Our goal is to enable cutting-edge social tools to bring our artists’ music to Snap’s highly engaged user base,” Oana Ruxandra, the chief digital officer at Warner Music Group, said in a statement.

But Snap Inc. has not struck a deal with the largest record-label arm, Universal Music, or Sony, which owns the top music publisher, Bloomberg News noted.