TikTok may have plans to scale its presence in the world of music streaming, according to recent trademark filings uncovered by Business Insider. The app’s parent company, ByteDance, submitted an application in May with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music,” a service that would enable TikTok users to “purchase, play, share, [and] download music, songs, albums, [and] lyrics”; “live stream audio and video”; comment on songs and albums; edit and upload playlist cover photos; and recommend playlists to other users.

Music has always played an essential part in how the platform operates, but now, by virtue of its rabid popularity, TikTok itself has become integral to the music industry.

TikTok’s 2021 year-end report demonstrated that 175 of the app’s trending songs ultimately landed on the Billboard 100 chart, and research published earlier this year by UK-based Hipgnosis Songs Fund indicated that when tracks began to trend on TikTok, they generally saw a significant boost in YouTube views and Spotify streams, among other metrics.

TikTok is also making it easier for artists to leak their own music, according to Billboard.

“Pre-releasing a song is a great way to test a track before its full launch,” TikTok said in a statement. “Artists can gauge audience reaction and find the most viral song clips to maximize sharing, listening, and interaction.”

ByteDance currently provides a music streaming service known as Resso in Brazil, India, and Indonesia. The app includes many of the same features outlined in the company’s recent U.S. trademark application. ByteDance’s filing also indicates that “TikTok Music” may “provide users with podcast and radio broadcast content.” Integrating such varied new material would enable TikTok – the first non-Meta owed app to reach 3 billion downloads worldwide – to more readily compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.