How TikTok Has Changed The Music Industry
If you have ever used TikTok, you’ve probably come across countless videos of people doing daily activities, dancing, and lip-syncing to a song that you’ve never heard of before. #tiktok #music #viral
Since TikTok became popular, it has become an essential marketing tool for artists and record labels, as well as a tool for record labels to scout new talent. TikTok took the world by storm in 2018 and became the most downloaded app in the Apple App Store in both 2018 and 2019.
According to a Business Insider article, trending songs on TikTok often end up charting on the Billboard 100 or Spotify Viral 50. Many TikTok creators have come to rely on song promo deals between music marketers and influencers as a source of income. Creators have made a lot of money through this, some earning hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a single video promoting a song.
One thing that’s been made apparent by TikTok is that music consumption is changing. One viral TikTok with a song in the background can get a song trending AND could get an artist new fans. In a recent report, it was revealed that 75% of TikTok’s users say they discover new artists through the platform, and another 63% have said that they have discovered new music on the app. It was also revealed that 67% of TikTok users say they are more likely to seek out a song on a music streaming platform after hearing it on TikTok.
Posting your music to TikTok is a good tool for going viral and getting discovered, which is what happened with Abigail Barlow. Abigail went viral in July of 2020, after posting a TikTok of a song she wrote five minutes before posting the video to the app. The TikTok she posted now has over five million views! In Jan. 2021, Barlow uploaded a TikTok with the caption; "Ok but what if Bridgerton was a musical?” The original TikTok garnered 2.2 million views and became a project for the artist and her friend Emily Bear. She soon began posting a series of videos to the app of songs the two had worked on together, which soon became The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, which was released in Sept.
On Nov. 23, Barlow posted a TikTok of herself and Emily reacting to the news that they were nominated for a Grammy, for the musical the two had written for Bridgerton.
A year after her original TikTok went viral, Barlow took to the app again in a TikTok to commemorate the day saying; "One year since this song changed the game for me as an independent artist. Posted this song I wrote 5 minutes earlier, not expecting much of a response. Never in a million years did I think posting this unproduced pop song would make it possible to do what I love for a living. But it did. It now has almost 10 million streams on Spotify… Thank you for listening.” Barlow also added; "Songwriters: If you write a song you think is worth listening to, POST IT.”
A small artist's trending song could open so many doors for them, which is why record labels have been turning to TikTok for some time now to scout new talent. It’s a good way to see what music is resonating with people.
#tiktok #music #viral #marketing #socialmedia #abigailbarlow #emilybear #barlowandbear #bridgertonmusical #theunofficialbridgertonmusical
