TikTok is coming for books, music and e-commerce Front Burner

TikTok is one of the biggest, most influential social media networks in the world — and its parent company ByteDance is making moves to capitalize on its enormous cultural influence. The company has announced plans to launch a music streaming service, a book publishing division and an e-commerce platform, all of which would allow people to connect directly to the music, books and products they see in the app's most viral videos.

It's a move that puts them in direct competition with tech heavyweights like Spotify, Apple and Amazon. What will this kind of vertical integration mean for the musicians, authors and content creators who are garnering those billions of views in the first place? Insider senior media reporter Dan Whateley breaks down ByteDance's big plans, and whether TikTok could truly become the "everything app" of the Western world.


For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts