ByteDance Ltd., owner of the popular video app TikTok, is developing a paid music service that will challenge industry leaders Spotify and Apple Music in emerging markets, according to reports. ByteDance expects to introduce the new app by next month in  countries where paid music services have yet to garner large audiences,  TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co Ltd is in talks with big music labels - Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music - for global licensing deals to include their songs on its new music subscription service, the Financial Times reported .

ByteDance is looking to launch its music streaming as soon as next month, initially in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil, before a future opening in the United States, the Financial Times reported.  In addition to on-demand music, ByteDance’s app will include a library of short video clips for listeners to search through and synch to songs as they listen, the report added. ByteDance has not given a name to its music app yet and pricing remains unclear, although it is expected to cost less than the $10 a month charged by Spotify Technology SA, Apple Inc and others in the United States, according to the report. 

ByteDance’s plans for a paid service were previously reported by the South China Morning Post.. ByteDance is already one of the world’s most valuable startups, valued at more than $75 billion in its most recent round of fundraising. The company’s first signature app was Toutiao, a news aggregation app whose name means headlines.

The new paid service will increase the competition between ByteDance and Tencent, which owns WeChat, China’s most popular app. At home, ByteDance and Tencent are already locked in a fierce competition to gain more attention from China’s smartphone-savvy young people. Douyin has become one of the biggest challengers to WeChat, spurring the latter to block Douyin links on its platform. Tencent’s music services are focused on China at the moment, but could expand in the years ahead.