Pinterest partners with record labels to bring popular music to its TikTok rival, 'Idea Pins'

• Updated on: 2023-07-08
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Pinterest’s TikTok competitor is gaining new music. The company announced today its video-focused “Idea Pins” feature will now include the ability to add popular tracks from top artists, thanks to new licensing deals with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG. This will expand upon the music already provided through Pinterest’s royalty-free music library from 7Digital, the company noted.

With the launch, Pinterest says there will be thousands of new tracks available from artists like Dan + Shay, Bruno Mars, Michael Bublé, Twenty One Pilots, Zach Bryan, Paramore, and others.

To make it easier to browse and access this larger music catalog, the Pinterest mobile app will also introduce a new music experience on iOS and Android. Here, creators will be able to search for music by artist, track name or keyword in order to find the right song to accompany their Idea Pin.

To use the feature, creators will first open Idea Pins, then click on the music icon to be taken to the screen where they can search and add their desired track. They’ll then record their Idea Pin and publish it.

The update could help to make Pinterest’s Idea Pins a more viable competitor to TikTok as well as other social apps that have ventured into the short-form video format, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts — all of which already include the ability to add popular songs from major labels.

Launched last year, Idea Pins are Pinterest’s own unique take on the now ubiquitous TikTok short video format, which has shown up in numerous apps including Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, and most recently, Twitter. Instead of copying TikTok directly, as some others have done, the 60-second Idea Pins allow creators to tell their stories using a combination of video, images, music, and other editing tools — but in a way where the Pins themselves can be tapped through, which is similar to Stories. The Idea Pins feed, meanwhile, is scrolled through vertically, like TikTok.

This format can be useful for the types of videos Pinterest creators would want to make as it allows them to add elements to their Pins that a video-only feature wouldn’t as easily permit — like a list of ingredients and steps for a recipe, for example, or the names of products used in a makeup tutorial.

Pinterest users can like, share and comment on the Idea Pins. But they can also save them to different boards for later reference — an organizational feature TikTok today lacks.

This summer, Pinterest opened up the Idea Pins format to advertisers, too, with the launch of “Idea Ads.”

“Music plays a vital role in elevating storytelling and empowering storytellers, creators and Pinners who inspire the world every day on Pinterest,” said Malik Ducard, Pinterest’s Chief Content Officer, in a statement about the launch. “We are thrilled to partner with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG to bring the latest music tracks to our platform and elevate the content and inspiration created on Pinterest.”