TikTok’s parent company files US patent for music player

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance (and its subsidiaries), are incredibly prolific inventors.

Bloomberg Law announced in March that the company has more than 900 active patents in the United States alone 600 in progress. And according to Insights Gate, ByteDance had over 9000 patents worldwide from October 2023 7,553 of which are active.

MBW provided detailed information about the company related to music patents to date. For example, in August 2022, we reported that TIK Tok held a US patent for a music service; a year later, TikTok launched its premium music streaming platform, now known as TikTok Music.

In March, we published two reports on the investigation into ByteDance and its mysterious subsidiary Lemon Inc. research AI Music.

Today we can reveal one of ByteDance latest US patent applications – what they seem to describe an electronic device that can play music.

The application, filed in the US in December 2023 and noticed by MBW, is titled: “Method and apparatus for reproducing music.”

The filing appears to be a continuation of an application originally filed in 2022 in China for the same invention.

This app is also currently in progress. The pending US version was released in April.

In the summary section of the document, which can be read in its entirety here, ByteDance explains: “Users can play music through electronic devices,” but “the music playback mode in conventional music apps does not offer enough flexibility, so the playback effect is unsatisfactory” (sic).

ByteDance explains that the “first aspect” of its invention is “method for playing music” comprising a “target application for playing music” and an “interface” that includes “operational control for enhancing a music playback effect through at least one processing, wherein the processing is used to represent musical content in a manner beyond audio”.

The second aspect of the invention is described by ” the camera for playing music”, which includes “an interface including operational control to enhance the effect of music playback” and “for representing musical content in a way beyond sound”.

ByteDance describes the third aspect of the invention as “electronic device consisting of at least one processor and memory.”

This document describes a device and application that have a flashing light source, flashing screen, and vibration functions that are affected by changes in the music being played.

ByteDance explains that “attributes” such as vibration, as well as the flashing frequency, brightness, and color of the light source and screen, “can refer to the rhythm point in music, the voice change point in music, and the instrument sound change point in music.”

“Attributes such as the flash rate, brightness, and color of a light source can be related to music; for example, attributes can be related to the beat point in music, the voice change point in music, and the tone change point of an instrument in music.”

Bytedance files patent application

The company adds in the filing: “A voice and/or instrument sound change point may include a volume change point, a timbre change point, and a tone change point.”

These features, including flashing lights and vibrations that respond to music, “can be constant, randomized, or pre-set using the appropriate control.”

ByteDance The filing states that the vibration function is “performed according to the vibration intensity,” for example, “the longer the time interval, the lower the vibration intensity.”

Meanwhile, “the shorter the time interval, the greater the vibration intensity.” (This sounds similar to the way a Playstation or X Box controller vibrates during gameplay.)

“This allows the vibration effect to be more flexible, and the user can enjoy listening to music even more,” the document reads.

Picture (Figure 3) Below is an interface that includes the song name, lyrics, and a playback control area with download, like, search, and share buttons.

Figure 4, Meanwhile, it shows off more features, including a sleep timer, “hidden settings,” a “favorites” button, and an “exciting” mode button, which is reported to “can enhance the music playback effect” via flashing lights, a flashing screen, and vibration.

The idea of a ByteDance smart device that can play music is not that far-fetched.

In 2020, the company introduced the Dali smart touchscreen lamp in China, designed for educational purposes, which allows parents to connect with their children remotely via a mobile app.

The diagram of the proposed ByteDance invention above also appears to show a “Kids’ Music” section. Smart devices with music enabled for kids are big business these days.

Just last week, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife’s venture capital fund rounded out a $22 million funding round for children’s audio platform Yoto.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, ByteDance subsidiary TikTok also has a U.S. patent, which you can read here , for a “Method for enabling digital music content to be downloaded and used on a portable wireless device.” TikTok also operates a premium music service (and Spotify rival) in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, and Singapore.

He could ByteDance I am planning to launch An iPod-like device loaded with TikTok Music that can display song lyrics and a light show that will play to the beat of the music?

Who knows. Watch this space…The music business around the world