TikTok parent ByteDance to launch music production app in U.S.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is launching a new, free-to-use music production app in closed beta in the U.S., Ripple, the company announced on Friday.

Ripple, which is currently an invite-only platform, is designed to help artists create and edit audio similarly to portable smart digital audio workstations (DAWs), ByteDance stated.

Ripple allows users to sing or hum a melody into the app, and using machine learning, it will expand the melody and turn it into an instrumental song, and its model was trained on music licensed or owned by the company.

“Ripple is designed to inspire musical creativity and help musicians, artists, and composers express themselves. We’re excited to see how creators use Ripple to tap into their creativity to soundtrack their own short form videos,” said ByteDance in a statement.

The app will also feature a virtual recording studio that lets users record, cut, trim, and edit audio files on their mobile devices, with plans to add more mobile-friendly tools.

Ripple has invited musicians and music enthusiasts to test the app at its early stage and allows users to beta test it through the website and request an invitation code.

TikTok had launched its own music marketing and distribution platform, SoundOn, to help artists get their music heard.