TIKTOK’S IMPACT
The app paving a new path in the music industry
By Andrea Morales
It’s no secret that TikTok has become one of the most popular apps in the world . In a short amount of time, it was able to completely dominate the swipes on our phone. If you happen to not be one of the billion users, it is a video sharing app, where audiences can create a 15 second to three minute video about anything they want. The world is their oyster, so to speak.
Along with the ability to create videos, this app equips its users with added effects, filters, and most importantly, audio clips. Now the user can create an audio, use another person’s, or take a bite from their favorite song for their video.
The app is quite ingenious, and not just because it provides endless content for its users. From the perspective of the music industry, a billion users could provide massive amounts of promotional content for an artist. For example, if you were to go look at the Billboard Hot 100, many of the songs have been made popular by TikTok.
In early April, the number one spot on the Billboard was occupied by Jack Harlow’s song, “First Class”. Harlow famously released a clip of this song on March 31 on TikTok-a full week before the song was officially released-and it completely transformed everyone’s For You page.
The song is currently used on 750k videos on TikTok, not even counting the edits or independent sounds that people have made off the song. Because of this increased popularity on the app, it is now the number one song in the world.
It’s not just mainstream artists that can become popular on TikTok—there have been a few outliers. One of the most famous examples being Masked Wolf’s, “Astronaut in the Ocean”. He claims he had never even heard of TikTok when releasing the song, and did not intend for it to be the sensation that it was. In addition, with TikTok’s infamous reputation of having random songs go viral, for example, The Backyardigans’ “Castaways” or Despicable Me 2’s “Just a Cloud Away”, the door is open to independent artists.
It’s possible that the influence TikTok possesses can eventually eliminate the need for an independent artist to rely on huge music labels to promote them. Now, it seems like the general trend to gain support from different audiences is to have your music blow up on the app.
Some of the methods artists use usually involves asking influencers to promote new music, or having a trend revolve around your song. Either method ensures that the song has longevity and reaches new listeners. Then, hopefully, the song will hit mainstream charts and become a hit.