TikTok’s SoundOn Partners with ACRCloud

Photo Credit: SoundOn / TikTok

TikTok’s music distribution platform SoundOn partners with ACRCloud’s Derivative Works service to crack down on unauthorized uploads.

SoundOn, the music distribution and promotion platform owned by TikTok, has deployed a new detection service from content recognition firm ACRCloud. The partnership will integrate the latter’s Derivative Works Detection tool to identify copyrighted works that have been uploaded via SoundOn without authorization.

The Derivative Works technology can detect such tracks even when they have been “significantly altered” through speed or pitch shifting, the company claims. It uses audio fingerprinting to identify modified works before they hit streaming platforms, flagging them for both pre- and post-distribution review.

According to TikTok, the partnership adds an “extra layer of anti-fraud detection” into the SoundOn platform. Together with TikTok’s internal content-scanning infrastructure, the company says the system creates a “best-in-class, industry-leading, multi-signal detection framework” to reduce the risk of unauthorized uploads. This, SoundOn says, will ensure that the content delivered to DSPs is “original, authorized, and trusted.”

“SoundOn was built to support artists at every stage of their journey, from first release through to global success, combining distribution, promotion, and audience development in one platform,” said Nichal Sethi, Head of SoundOn, EMEA. “As we continue to help hundreds of thousands of artists grow their fanbases and generate revenue both on and off TikTok, it’s essential that we uphold the highest standards of responsibility across the ecosystem.”

“We’re proud to partner with SoundOn to bring our automatic content recognition technology to a rapidly growing distribution platform,” added Tony Li, Co-Founder of ACRCloud. “By enabling accurate identification and verification of music at scale, we’re helping support a more transparent and reliable ecosystem for artists, rightsholders, and digital services alike.”

The partnership comes at a crucial moment, amid increasing scrutiny across the industry of manipulated audio distribution across DSPs.

It also follows TikTok’s new licensing deal with Universal Music Group back in 2024, after a headline-worthy falling out between the two entities. That agreement saw TikTok pledge protections for UMG’s roster across the platform, which includes guardrails against AI-manipulated and AI-generated music.