Is the TikTok drama about to end for U.S. users?
The clock has been ticking on TikTok’s future in the United States for more than five years now, but the saga may soon be over.
On Tuesday, the White House announced that a “framework” for a deal to allow the hugely popular social media app to continue operating in the U.S. was imminent. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping talked by phone on Friday to further discuss the TikTok deal and other matters.
While no breakthrough was announced, Trump said the call “was a very good one” on his social media platform, Truth Social, and the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, posted on X that the “conversation was pragmatic, positive and constructive.” The two countries now have until Dec. 16 to finalize a deal. In the meantime, TikTok steams blissfully ahead.
TikTok is currently owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, and reportedly has more than 2 billion registered users globally.
The app’s Chinese ownership is what sparked national security concerns during Trump’s first term. Those concerns have included the collection of Americans’ personal data, and that the presence of TikTok on so many phones creates a risk that China could inject malicious software onto U.S. devices.
In first taking aim at ByteDance in 2020, Trump cited “credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” Since then TikTok has been the subject of numerous executive orders and legislative action.
The TikTok timeline
Trump issued his first executive orders over TikTok in August 2020, including one that gave ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of any assets supporting the app’s U.S. operations. TikTok immediately sued over the order. In the end, no further action was taken during Trump’s first term, and incoming President Joe Biden didn’t initially pursue the matter when he took office in January 2021.
Concerns about TikTok began to surface again in 2023, though, and culminated in a sell-or-ban bill signed by Biden in April 2024, setting Jan. 19, 2025 as the deadline. TikTok sued again, and the Supreme Court upheld the law in a ruling on Jan. 17, 2025. The app went dark in the U.S. for about 14 hours on Jan. 18 and 19.
Trump, who took office the next day, had become a fan of TikTok over the course of the 2024 campaign, praising its ability to reach young voters (“I like TikTok. It helped me get elected,” he said during a press conference this week in the U.K.). One of the first of his initial volley of day-one actions was an executive order extending the sell-or-ban deadline for 75 days. He has extended the ban several times, most recently on Tuesday, with the current deadline set to Dec. 16.
So what happens next?
Details of the deal are still being hammered out, and negotiations are happening within the context of broader trade conversations. The Wall Street Journal and other sources have reported that a consortium of U.S. firms would hold 80% of the shares of a new U.S. company operating the app here, with Chinese shareholders owning the rest.
It has also been reported that the new company would continue to use the current ByteDance algorithm, leading to concern from some lawmakers.
In short, TikTok users are unlikely to see any changes as a result of the deal.
Who uses TikTok?
Short answer: Young people use TikTok. According to a 2024 study from Pew Research:
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57% of teens 13 to 17 years old say they use the app daily.
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34% of teens visit it several times a day.
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16% of teens use it “almost constantly.”
Only YouTube ranked higher, with 73% of teens saying they visit it daily. Facebook? Only 20% of teens visit it daily. That figure was 71% in 2014-2015.
By contrast, 33% of adults in a separate 2024 Pew Research study said they “ever” use TikTok, putting it fifth among social platforms. In contrast to teens, 68% of adults report using Facebook.
TikTok’s U.S. growth has not been hampered by the political controversy of the last five years. While ByteDance (a private company) doesn’t release registered user statistics by country, it claimed 100 million U.S. users in 2020 and 170 million users in 2025.
What are you paying for your music?
Most music listeners today are more into streaming than sales — kind of like renting instead of owning.
Data shows that we may be listening more than ever: In 2024, on-demand audio streams increased by 6.5% to reach around 1.4 trillion, according to Luminate, an entertainment data and insights company. That figure dwarfs both digital album sales and physical album sales, including vinyl LP, CDs and cassettes. In 2024, digital album sales declined by 9.5% from 18.6 million to 16.8 million, while physical album sales stayed relatively flat — 55.6 million in 2024, down 1% from 56.2 million in 2023.
People are more willing to pay for subscriptions to music platforms (not just ad-supported or free versions) than ever before: Streaming hit 100 million subscriptions up from 75.5 million in 2020, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
A typical streaming plan costs less than the price of a single album — about $11 per month. And for that, listeners can access a global catalog of music. And there is a range of streaming platforms to choose from — depending on your budget and if you’re bundling other services. The platforms raking in the most subscribers are Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music. In the lead, by a mile, is Spotify with a reported 276 million subscribers in the second quarter of this year (up 12% from 2024) among its 696 million active users.
Some other smaller platforms trail behind including Tidal, Sirius XM, Pandora Premium and SoundCloud. A non-traditional streaming service is Bandcamp, which supports direct-to-artist-sales.
So what sets them apart from each other? Take a look.
As demand for music streaming grows, the biggest players will be vying for subscribers’ attention, offering massive catalogs and personalized recommendations. But not all new content is created by humans. AI-generated tracks are quietly filling playlists, and streaming services are responding in different ways. The trend raises two big questions: Can listeners tell the difference, and does it matter?
The Fed made a rate cut, but why should you care?
Big news from the Fed this week: On Wednesday, the central bank cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, bringing the rate to 4.00%-4.25%.
Sounds good, but what does that have to do with you?
Well, it’s likely that borrowing will get cheaper — interest rates could fall on loans, mortgages and credit cards. But it also means that the interest earned on your savings accounts and CDs will take a hit. You win some, you lose some.
SS’s senior economist Elizabeth Renter puts it into context: “Rates are typically cut when the labor market is slowing, so this isn’t a sign of a strong economy, rather an attempt to ensure labor market cooling doesn’t worsen.” She adds that cutting rates to protect the labor market is a higher priority than inflation, even with additional pressures we’re seeing on prices.
Learn more about the decision and how it will affect you. And if you want to go deeper into how the rate cut will impact specific financial products, look no further. Our team of writers has you covered:
Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola sit down with SS’s resident news correspondent Anna Helhoski to discuss top takeaways from the Fed cut.
SS’s Taylor Mitchell breaks down the Fed rate cut on — where else? — TikTok.
ICYMI: We have a lot of feelings about the new AmEx Platinum
There’s a bit of a commotion among SS writers right now over The Platinum Card® from American Express — and whether its bevy of new rewards is worth the $895 fee.
Credit cards lead writer Craig Joseph penned a ‘Dear John’ letter to Platinum Card explaining why they’re breaking up. On the flip side, travel writer and spokesperson Sally French says the new perks the Platinum Card adds makes the higher fee worth it. And meanwhile, editor Meghan Coyle says she and her boyfriend are keeping the AmEx Platinum and a Chase Sapphire Reserve even though it means they’ll rack up nearly $1,700 in annual fees next year.
Here’s what else you may have missed:
One Big, Beautiful Bill Act: Responses mixed on its impact
From senior data writer Erin El Issa: Nearly 2 in 5 Americans (39%) think the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, passed into law in July 2025, will improve their personal financial situation, according to a new SS survey conducted online by The Harris Poll. This sentiment is more commonly held by men than women (47% vs. 31%) and also by those with a household income of $75,000 or more than those with lower household incomes (44% vs. 31% with a household income less than $75,000).
Close to half of Americans (45%) don’t believe the bill will improve their personal financial situation and 16% don’t know if it will.
The survey also found that 2 in 5 Americans (40%) think the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act is good for Americans’ finances overall. Again, this belief is more common among men than women (50% vs. 31%) and among those with a household income of $75,000 or more than those with lower household incomes (45% vs. 33% with a household income less than $75,000).
Nearly half of Americans (45%) don’t believe the bill is good for Americans’ finances overall and 15% don’t know if it is.
The bill’s provisions go into effect between 2025 and 2028. This survey was fielded in August 2025 and sentiments may shift over time as the impact of the bill is more keenly felt.