Monday, August 10, 2020

American Idol Creator Simon Fuller Teams With TikTok

Simon Fuller, the creator of "American Idol", announced on Friday that he is teaming with TikTok, the short-form musical video app, to create what the two call the "world's next music supergroup". The announcement--which was made just hours after the White House announced moves to ban TikTok in the United States--said that Fuller would use an in-app audition process to look for "extraordinary undiscovered artists" to create a new music group. Audition details had not yet been announced. It's unclear how the deal will move forward, given an executive order issued late Thursday by the Trump administration, which TikTok's parent company--ByteDance--from transactions with US companies beginning in 45 days. Simon Fuller said the effort to create a new musical supergroup via tuikTok would create the "most connected Pop Group ever, thriving on every platform and sharing their talent and positive energy with the world."