Browsing Tag

TikTok music promotion

Why Musicians Shouldn’t Overlook TikTok’s Influence Over the Music Industry

TikTok’s ability to catapult musicians into the viral fame stratosphere is hardly the music industry’s best-kept secret. Everyone from Lil Nas X to Selena Gomez to Lizzo to Doja Cat owes some degree of their success to the platform, which is often largely disregarded by people outside the Gen Z generation as a breeding ground for narcissism.

The controversial platform has also proven efficacious in turning older songs into new viral hits, which find their way back into the charts or reach the music charts for the first time. While there is some degree of luck and chance to the viral TikTok fame formula, there are ways to increase your chances of ensuring your music resonates with the new generation of music fans.

In this article, we will touch on how to leverage the platform for success, in the same vein as Mother Mother, and how TikTok fame translates to success outside of the platform.

How Mother Mother’s 2008 Single Shot to Viral Fame Overnight in 2021

The Canadian indie band Mother Mother is a testament to the power of adaptation and evolution. Their journey, particularly post their viral TikTok fame in 2020, is a fascinating narrative of how modern platforms can redefine an artist’s journey to success. After 15 years of steady, yet under-the-radar, work in the music scene, Mother Mother’s trajectory took a dramatic and unexpected turn, thanks to the social media powerhouse.

The band experienced a seismic shift in their career when their 2008 album ‘O My Heart’ found unexpected fame on TikTok. The standout track ‘Hayloft’ became a viral sensation, amassing over 635,000 videos on TikTok and nearing 263 million streams on Spotify. This surge in popularity was a stark contrast to their status two years prior, where they had approximately 1.08 million monthly Spotify listeners. Post-viral success, this number skyrocketed to 7.33 million, peaking at 8.17 million in April 2021.

A review of double release from 'Mother Mother', the band who shot to  popularity thanks to TikTok - Brig Newspaper

Interestingly, ‘Hayloft’ was originally deemed too unconventional for mainstream radio, the song found its audience over a decade later among the Gen Z users of TikTok. Its quirky, genre-bending nature resonated with a generation known for its embrace of diversity and rejection of traditional norms.

The band’s response to this newfound fame was ingeniously strategic in 2021, they released ‘Inside’, an album that came 13 years and five albums after ‘O My Heart’. This release was followed by an intriguing move – the tease and eventual release of ‘Hayloft II’, a sequel to their viral hit. This sequel was part of an extended version of ‘Inside’, offering fans a fresh take on the beloved ‘Hayloft’ melody and lyrics.

This strategic release sequence not only maintained the momentum but also deepened the engagement with their audience. Within a week of its release, ‘Hayloft II’ was used in over 35,000 TikTok videos and garnered 3.4 million streams on Spotify, with the music videos for both ‘Hayloft’ tracks collectively hitting 2.5 million views on YouTube.

How to Gain Traction on TikTok

Mother Mother’s story is a striking example of how artists can leverage viral success to not only sustain but also expand their creative horizons. While Mother Mother’s fame even left the band perplexed as to how it happened and not every artist can bank on winning the same virality lottery, musicians wanting more traction behind their careers shouldn’t overlook the platform’s influence over the music industry. Here’s how to get started.

  1. Leverage Trends and Challenges: TikTok thrives on trends and challenges. Musicians can gain traction by creating content that fits into or inspires these trends. Creating a catchy, easily replicable hook can encourage users to create their own content with the song, amplifying its reach.
  2. Authentic Engagement: TikTok users value authenticity. Musicians who engage genuinely with their audience, respond to comments and participate in trends themselves can build a loyal following.
  3. Collaborations: Teaming up with popular TikTok creators or other musicians can expose an artist to new audiences. Collaborations can take the form of duets, challenges, or simply using each other’s music in videos.
  4. Consistent Posting: Regularly posting content keeps an artist visible and relevant. This doesn’t always mean only posting polished music clips; behind-the-scenes footage, songwriting processes, or personal stories can also resonate with audiences.
  1. Hashtag Usage: Strategic use of hashtags can increase the visibility of content. Including trending hashtags, as well as specific music-related tags, can help a musician’s content surface in more users’ feeds.
  1. Snippets and Teasers: Releasing short, catchy snippets of songs can generate interest and anticipation for the full version. This tactic can lead to users checking out the artist’s other work or streaming platforms.
  1. Adapting to the Platform: TikTok’s format favours short, engaging content. Musicians need to adapt their music to fit this format, focusing on creating impactful, concise clips that capture attention quickly.
  1. Interactive Content: Encouraging user interaction, such as asking for duets, remixes, or reactions, can increase engagement. This also gives fans a sense of participation and connection with the artist.
  1. Understanding the Algorithm: TikTok’s algorithm favours content that keeps users on the app longer. Understanding and adapting to these mechanics, such as creating loopable content or videos that encourage repeat views, can help in gaining traction.
  1. Embracing Virality: If a song or artist starts gaining traction, it’s crucial to capitalise on this momentum. This could mean creating more content around the trending song, engaging with users who make videos with it, or quickly releasing related music.

How TikTok Fame Translates to Success Away from the Platform

When a musician goes viral on TikTok, their visibility skyrockets. This newfound fame means more people are aware of the artist, which naturally leads to increased interest in their live performances, streaming their music, and purchasing their merchandise. Here’s how the success typically translates to other domains.

  1. Spotify Streams: Viral TikTok songs often lead to a surge in Spotify streams. Users who discover a song on TikTok are likely to search for the full version on streaming platforms. Additionally, TikTok’s short format leaves users wanting more, driving them to platforms where they can listen to the entire track or album.
  1. Converting Followers to Fans: TikTok followers can quickly become dedicated fans. As these followers develop a deeper interest in the artist’s work, they are more likely to buy concert tickets and merchandise. This conversion is often facilitated by the artist’s continued engagement and content creation that resonates with their audience.
  1. Cross-Platform Promotion: Musicians often use TikTok fame to promote their activities on other platforms. For instance, they can announce new music releases, concert dates, or merchandise drops on TikTok, directing traffic to Spotify, ticketing websites, or online merch stores.
  1. Algorithmic Boosts: The algorithms of platforms like Spotify often take cues from social media trends. A song trending on TikTok is likely to be featured in Spotify’s popular playlists, further increasing streams and visibility.
  1. Merchandise Sales: TikTok allows artists to showcase their personality and brand, which can be leveraged in their merchandise. Fans who feel a connection to the artist are more likely to purchase merch as a way of supporting them.
  1. Tour and Event Promotion: Artists can use TikTok to promote tours and events directly to a highly engaged audience. Viral fame can lead to rapid ticket sales, as fans are eager to experience the music they’ve enjoyed on TikTok live.
  1. Collaborations and Sponsorships: TikTok fame can lead to collaborations with other artists or brands, further increasing an artist’s exposure. These collaborations can also include exclusive merchandise or sponsored content, leading to additional revenue streams.

Conclusion

If you want to connect with the new generation of music fans, put your music in front of them. If you’re always relying on Instagram and Facebook and then lamenting about the pitiful reach of your posts, this is a sign that your social media music marketing game needs to evolve in line with contemporary digital trends.

Use TikTok to market your new releases and your older material that you think would resonate with the new generation of music fans. Pour the same creativity you use in your music into marketing it and see what mark you can make on the increasingly digital music landscape.

For more A&R advice, enquire about our artist consultancy services today.

Article by Amelia Vandergast

Is TikTok the New Myspace for (Not Just Gen Z) Unsigned Artists?

If you experienced Myspace, no matter what TikTok does (we are talking about the platform here, not the creators, before you start bemoaning the dance moves and the lip-syncing proclivities), it will probably never scratch the nostalgic itch.

For younger independent artists oblivious to the culture of Myspace, there is little hesitation to jump on what became the most visited website in 2021. You can see it as a sad sign of the times that users spend more than 850 minutes every month on the app, or you can also see it as one of the best opportunities the internet has extended to artists looking to cast their digital net wider.

Just about anything can go viral on TikTok, proven by the sea shanty trend in 2021. And for anyone that thinks TikTok is for ingrates who blasphemously appropriate music culture, think again. 40% of active users of TikTok have a monthly music subscription, compared to 25% of the general population. Even more remarkably, only 9% of the general population frequently buy merch; for TikTok users, it is 17%. That is before you consider how many users get inspired by music before putting it into their posts.

TikTok has become so vital to the music industry that publishers change track names to how they are referred to on TikTok. And don’t forget about the deal signed between UnitedMasters and TikTok in 2021. 

What We Can Learn from the Legacy of Myspace

Myspace used to be one of the best platforms for music discovery. Facebook may have left it dead and buried but social media is still the number 1 method of discovering music for Gen Z and Millennial music fans, followed by YouTube videos, recommendations from friends, radio, TV shows, and soundtracks.

In 2022, TikTok is as renowned for its viral video humour as it is famous for launching new artists’ careers. Lil Nas X, Tai Verdes, Loren Gray, and Baby Ariel have TikTok to thank for their stratospheric fame and revered positions in the music industry.

The other remarkable feat of Myspace was its networking capabilities; it became a place for artists to create genuine connections with fans, other bands, venues, and other figureheads in the music industry.

Newsflash, it is still easy to create connections online. The real issue with music promotion in 2022 isn’t the inability to make those connections; it is the undeniable oversaturation in the music industry; there are more artists on Spotify than people living in Hong Kong. The fault does not lie with the technology of today. The fault lies within the cramped confines of the industry, filled with fame-hungry chancers looking for adoration and easy money. The good news is that these narcissistic hacks are easily separable from talented artists. The difference lies within the art and the effort to ensure it is heard. Now, there are more platforms than ever to expand your reach and collect royalties.

How the SoundOn Feature Became a Game Changer for Unsigned Artists

In 2022, TikTok launched its new SoundOn initiative across the US and the UK to support unsigned artists. The feature allows artists to licence their tracks for use on the platform via the partner streaming service, Resso. 

The SoundOn feature enables artists to upload music and earn royalties. In the first year, artists will receive 100% of their royalties; after that, it drops to a still very reasonable 90%. As the cherry on the self-promo cake, the feature also offers a range of promotional tools and support.

Anyone Can Go Viral on TikTok

TikTok has become one of the ultimate equalisers of our technology-driven times. Forget Twitter, which leaves sycophants in a frenzy every time the object of their infatuation Tweets about their breakfast and bowel movements and ignores the voices that deserve to be heard.

Forget Facebook, which will all too happily effectively leave you screaming into the void while you are attempting to promote your new single, album, merch or tour. To go viral on TikTok, you don’t need thousands or millions of followers at your disposal or a massive social media marketing budget; all you need is a little creativity; which should be something that artists have in abundance.

How to Create Viral Worthy Posts to Promote Your Music on TikTok

Keep it short and sweet. TikTok may be a great platform, but it can’t lengthen the tragically short attention span of social media users. 8 – 15 seconds seems to be the sweet spot. So, share the hookiest segment of your new track or the most eye-grabbing fragment of your new music video.

Stay in trend. Even if you don’t bow to the mainstream trends with your music, if you want TikTok success, you might have to make an exception to that rule. Head to the discover page to find out what is trending in your niche and make the algorithms take your content to new heights.

Don’t use generic hashtags. When finalising your TikTok posts, don’t be tempted to use the most obvious tags. Do a deep dive on the trending tags for your niche on the platform itself, and utilise sites such as tophashtags.com.

– Collaborate with popular creators. Influencers, including TikTok influencers, are becoming increasingly valuable for independent artists looking for effective music promotion. As the adage goes, if you can’t beat them, join them! Offer your music for other popular creators in your niche to use in their videos.

Conclusion

I don’t want to get all Dr Pepper on you, but what is the worst that can happen if you choose to invest some of your time in promoting your music on the platform? In 2020, 70 unsigned artists snagged major record label deals, which may not sound too impressive, given the number of independent artists releasing music. But getting signed to a label isn’t the be-all and end-all for artists anymore. With a loyal enough following, there is no stopping independent artists from being able to fund their music careers and running things on their terms.

Amelia Vandergast