SiriusXM partners with TikTok on a new music channel, Pandora Playlists and more – TechCrunch
SiriusXM is leaning into TikTok. Today, the satellite radio company and Pandora’s parent announced a partnership with the social video platform to power several new initiatives, including a TikTok channel on SiriusXM, hosting TikTok playlists on Pandora, and re-airings of Pandora LIVE events on TikTok. The hosted playlists on Pandora are the first of the new initiatives to launch.
Starting today, popular TikTok creators will curate, host, and promote their Pandora playlists to their fans on TikTok, beginning with Bella Poarch. The TikTok influencer, who now has 69.6 million followers, is best known for her viral lip-sync video to “M to the B,” which became the most-liked video on TikTok. She also makes videos featuring singing, dancing, and gaming content, among other things, and this month released her first single, “Build a B*tch,” which has broken into Spotify’s U.S. and Global Top 50 charts.
Pandora is not the first music streamer to tap into TikTok’s influence for its ends. Other “TikTok Tastemakers,” as SiriusXM has dubbed them, will release their playlists in the months to come, including Christian Shelton and Nick Tangorra. In addition, Pandora users can tune into the TikTok Hits Playlist time, which features popular and trending songs from TikTok.
Today, TikTok’s trends drive songs up the Billboard charts and deliver Spotify streams as younger users look for their favorite TikTok songs on their preferred streaming music app. Spotify is now curating TikTok hits across editorial playlists like Viral Hits, big on the Internet, Teen Beats, and others. Apple Music also joined the TikTok action when it introduced ten new playlists last year aimed at younger Gen Z users. This included its Viral Hits playlist, which pulls top tracks from TikTok and other social media channels.
Among the other SiriusXM initiatives is the soon-to-launch TikTok Radio, a full-time music channel featuring tracks trending on TikTok, which TikTok creators, influencers, and DJs will present. The channel will debut later this summer and stream across SiriusXM, including in vehicles and the SiriusXM app for desktop, mobile, and connected devices. TikTok fans will also later be able to watch selected re-airings of Pandora’s original events series, Pandora LIVE — a continuation of Pandora’s live events that went virtual during the pandemic.
Pandora LIVE events feature artists from across genres, including country, rock, pop, R&B, and more, and have typically been re-aired, in part, the day after on SiriusXM. Recently, Pandora LIVE celebrated Women’s History Month with a virtual event that included performances by Gwen Stefani and Jazmine Sullivan, which was re-aired on TikTok. More Pandora LIVE events will soon do the same. SiriusXM says it will announce which events will re-air on TikTok throughout the year.
