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The Ethereum blockchain-based music-sharing protocol Audius has become one of the first streaming platforms to be integrated with TikTok. This allows the nearly 1 billion users to share tracks directly on the social network, from the Audius app.
In an announcement made official on Monday, Audius said it has been integrated with the popular TikTok platform to create a new feature called TikTok Sounds.
According to an interview with Forrest Browning, Audius co-founder, and product manager, the addition will allow users to export songs created with the protocol to TikTok with one click. At the time of writing, the social network has nearly 1 billion users.
With this news, Audius says it is looking to leverage blockchain technology to reward content creators and increase transparency in payments to artists.
However, the integration with TikTok seems to be more about music than about delivering a message about cryptocurrencies or decentralized finance. Moreover, Browning points out that about “95 percent of Audius users have no idea that blockchain is even involved.”
For the moment, TikTok has not communicated on this agreement and this integration should not be considered as a partnership between the two companies. This would have been somewhat surprising, given the social network’s recent decision to ban cryptocurrency-based promotional content.
In the wake of this announcement, the price of AUDIO, the governance token of the Audius project, more than doubled. In a matter of hours, the price of the asset went from around $1.6 to over $4, a 150% increase.
Audius will power the Ethereum network with 689 million monthly active users through its connection with TikTok. However, it’s not clear if these customers know they’re using crypto.
Audius isn’t the first system to use music to drive interest in cryptocurrency. Last month, as the project sponsored the Lollapalooza festival, interest in Solana increased. Dogecoin supporters have already declared plans to host a similar fall music festival called “Dogepalloza.”