We tried TikTok's new music streaming app. Here's how it could win over users and what it needs to fix.

Immediately upon launch, the app prompts users to sign in via TikTok. We were required to have an account on the short-form video app to even use TikTok Music.

Breaking away from Spotify and other platforms that offer both free ad-supported and paid options, TikTok Music is subscription-only. In Singapore, where users are getting a three-month free trial as part of its current closed beta program — there is no option for a free tier that comes with advertising.

That could be because TikTok's parent company ByteDance has struggled to convert free users to paying customers in the past. It tested a free tier in its other music-streaming app, Resso, and very few users paid for the app, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Once we finished logging into TikTok Music, the app showed a list of recommended artists to follow based on the TikTok account.

Right from the start, it's clear that TikTok Music takes inspiration from its sister app and emphasizes music discovery.

The first thing we saw after signing up was the app's "For You" feed.

Anyone familiar with TikTok will feel right at home with the vertical, algorithm-driven feed — simply scroll to see what's next.

In the span of a minute, Insider scrolled through an odd mix of songs ranging from the Russian version of "Holding Out For A Hero" from the "Tetris" movie soundtrack to the parody song "Wet Diaper (Goo Goo Gah Gah)" from Showtime's "Ziwe."

Despite scrolling for hours, it never quite felt like the algorithm achieved the same addictive, mindless, and time-consuming groove that the TikTok app does. Perhaps an endless vertical scroll just isn't suited to music.

TikTok offers the ability to choose between "Fresh" or "Familiar" music on the For You page. This adjusts the user experience to allow for discovering new songs versus hearing more familiar tracks.

However, that's really the only form of control a user has over the app's algorithm, as they can't control other factors like genre or mood. Users need to make their own playlists or request a "similar mix" from a particular song in order to guarantee they'll hear certain types of music.

The app has a dedicated history page that makes it easy to keep track of songs while jumping between playlists. It also has a built-in music identifier that can recognize songs playing around a user. The feature basically renders Apple-owned Shazam obsolete if this is your primary music app.

TikTok Music also has a useful trick for social gatherings, offering a party mode that allows you to pump up the volume even higher and to use your phone's flashlight function as a strobe light.

TikTok Music features a comments section for every song, reminiscent of comments from the main TikTok app. Unlike other streaming apps, the comments don't seem like an afterthought — top comments are featured alongside a song's cover art.

So far, we found that only the most popular of songs on the app had active comment pages, but it's easy to see how drastically the app differs from other music streamers with its emphasis on social listening.

The app also provides an built-in translation feature for comments, which is useful considering TikTok Music's diverse global audience.

It also sets itself apart from Spotify by offering a richly detailed interface for song sharing, letting users choose and customize various visual styles before sending songs privately or posting to other social media platforms.

The app's heavy TikTok influence is instantly apparent here, coloring not just its design, but also the music it serves up. The "Discover" page is filled with rows of playlists based on what's currently popular on TikTok, alongside other playlists.

TikTok has also started showing users popular songs on its main video app, recently testing a new feature that reveals "Hot 50" and "Viral" music charts to some users.

Beyond that, the usual fare of curated and automatically generated playlists fill TikTok Music's Discover page.

Those familiar with Spotify or Apple Music won't raise an eyebrow at much of TikTok Music's interface. Even its artist pages look straight out of Spotify.

One big difference though is how much more specific the app's targeted recommendations felt. You can start a "similar mix" for a particular song, and the results absolutely blow Spotify and Apple Music out of the water.

We were genuinely impressed that TikTok Music's similar mix of Illenium's "With All My Heart" made a playlist of EDM-infused songs about life after or in love, which were so lyrically similar they might as well have all been written by Christina Perri.

Ditto for being able to create a playlist of extremely emo instrumental synth rock with a song from the progressive-rock group Archive.

For all its charm, TikTok Music has one big obstacle. The process of importing music from your listening app of choice takes you to a third-party platform, TuneMyMusic. Here, you are limited to importing 500 songs unless you're willing to shell out for a premium subscription to TuneMyMusic, which costs $4.50 a month.

As listeners who have way more than 500 songs saved across dozens of playlists, we were frustated by having to choose between paying or starting anew.