How TikTok Created a Social Media Music Industry

TikTok –  a monster of an app with over one billion users and counting. We all know it, we’ve all seen TikTok videos, and a good amount of us most likely have it downloaded. With its massive success as a platform, it’s no surprise that going viral on TikTok is incredibly important to influencers… especially those in the social media music industry. 

Yes, social media music is a growing trend, whether it starts on social media or takes off on a platform — and, being that TikTok uses music and audio as its major function, having a song rise the ranks of its top audios is a huge deal. In fact, it may even be an integral step in a musician’s journey to popularity. Interested in the connection between success as a musician and TikTok fame? Keep reading to see how, exactly, TikTok has created a social media music industry of its own.

State of TikTok’s Social Media Music Industry

It’s no secret that streaming services, such as YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music have massively impacted musicians’ success in the industry. The game has changed majorly because of the rise of these services. For example, 63% of Warner Music’s revenue in the last year came from streaming services! This goes to show that streaming is a key factor in success. However, it’s important to note that streaming isn’t always the first step in artists getting discovered. The first step could most likely be social media platforms — especially ones like TikTok.

As social media grows and connects us all, it’s clear that social media is a, if not the primary way for musicians to sell themselves and their music. While we’ve had platforms such as YouTube and Spotify, which are still going strong in terms of musicians finding fame, TikTok is really paving the way of success for many aspiring artists. This can be chalked up to the fact that TikTok’s primary function is to include music/audio in a video. TikTok encourages its audience to create videos with music, so naturally, a big chunk of a musician’s audience will most likely come from the app. This is how TikTok is creating its social media music industry. 

@lizzza

finally got it

♬ Savage – Megan Thee Stallion

Here are some interesting stats relating to TikTok and the music industry.

• In 2020, 176 songs and counting have gained more than one billion video views on the app.
• Up to 90 songs that trended on TikTok placed on US’ Top 100 charts.
• 15 of the top trending songs on TikTok have made it to number one on the US charts.

For more of the best music on TikTok, check out the top TikTok song trends you should know here.

Found on TikTok

Artists are not only gaining popularity itself from TikTok, but major label deals as well. TikTok has stated that about over 70 artists that saw success on TikTok have signed these deals. Whether they were influencers first and musicians second or vice versa, TikTok fame was the reason why they were signed.

Some examples of social media music artists being found are…

1. Dixie D’Amelio. In 2020, Dixie signed with HitCo Entertainment due to her following on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. 
2. Ambjaay. His song “Uno” inspired the #UnoDanceChallenge, which caused his song to be streamed over 50 million times on Spotify. This all led to his signing with Columbia Records.
3. Claire Rosinkranz. Signed to Republic Records, her single “Backyard Boy” gained lots of attention on TikTok with over 2.5 million videos using the song. 

Looking for some of the top music influencers? Check out our list of them and even more here!

Promoting Your Music on TikTok

By now, it’s established that social media music gets popular because of…well, you guessed it, social media. When artists are about to release a new single or album, you can find posts upon posts on multiple platforms teasing it. But, once the song comes out, it’s important to have a gameplan for how to spread the song as much as possible. Nowadays, artists are looking towards TikTok for this, creating dances and challenges to gain traction.

@nevschulman

Say So Remix (feat. @dojacat & @therealkamie) #fyp

♬ Say So – Doja Cat

Let’s take Flo Milli, a rapper known for her popular song “Beef FloMix”. This song went absolutely viral, racking in over 17 million streams on Spotify as of now. Part of this viral success came from TikTok, as Flo Milli and management contacted various people to recreate a popular dance to the song. Another artist that comes to mind is Mxmtoon. She actually created an account for herself on the app to promote her own music. As she gained more followers, her songs’ streaming stats began to noticeably rise. In fact, her song “Prom Dress” has over 400 thousand uses on TikTok currently. 

@mxmtoon

this would literally not be possible without you all and tiktok. forever thankful for everything you’ve done for me 🥺

♬ prom dress – mxmtoon

When Your Music Goes Viral on TikTok

Now, we’ve definitely established that virality is key to success in this social media music industry. But what, exactly, is there to expect once a song goes viral on the app? Well, the answers are right here!

1. Your song will rise up on streaming platforms. In fact, it will most likely be one of, if not the top song on your profile.
2. Your other social media pages, such as Instagram, will gain more followers and traction.
3. Your name will be spread and your renown will grow. Being that TikTok is incredibly popular, your name being all over the app will correlate to this.
4. Songs that go viral tend to not only be a number one hit, but more likely to be nominated for performances at music shows.
5. You will bring more views to music videos you have released.
6. Expect radio stations, which tend to play an artist’s top songs, to play your top songs (which are likely from TikTok).

Looking to run an epic influencer marketing campaign on TikTok? NeoReach has the best experience in creating viral campaigns that convert on social media. Sign up here! 

How TikTok Influences Streaming

It’s noticeable that TikTok virality impacts streaming intensely. You can see this just by taking a look at the charts or even an artist’s page on services such as Spotify or YouTube. Even the radio pays attention to what’s the most popular social media music! Just looking at any of the songs charting at the moment, you will notice that TikTok hits are usually up there. An example of this is Kali Uchis’ “telepatia”, which is currently trending on TikTok and at the upper half of Spotify’s US Top 50 chart. It’s also her top song on her Spotify profile as well, which is no surprise.

Speaking of charts, have you noticed that viral TikTok songs tend to stick there? Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song, “WAP”, not only went viral, but has been on the charts since its release (nearly one year ago)! This just goes to show that social media fame isn’t just momentary — it really lasts.

To really show how TikTok influences streaming, take a look at the correlation between some current popular social media music and how much they’ve been streamed.

All in all, the takeaway of this is that TikTok’s social media music industry is growing rapidly, day by day. Songs that go viral on TikTok, new or old, make it into not only our heads, but the charts and music industry itself. As TikTok goes on and artists continue to promote their music on the platform, the industry continues to turn their heads towards social media music. With its major success in virality, TikTok really impresses us all by going above and beyond. So, if you’re a musician looking to inspire large audiences, you may want to give TikTok a try!