Since 2016, TikTok has become one of the most impactful platforms for discovering new music and helping independent artists get their music discovered. With its snippet video format and fast algorithmic recommendation, TikTok has become an important player in the music promotion industry.
What Makes the TikTok App So Attractive to Music Artists?
Above all, TikTok has a huge audience, with more than a billion monthly active users. The app has massively impacted the music industry and global pop culture.
This gives indie artists access to gargantuan potential fanbases from day one. For independent artists without access to major label marketing budgets and connections, mastering the TikTok platform represents a tremendous opportunity to spread your songs virally. There are many TikTok promotion services offering independent artists campaigns for promoting music on this massive platform, using popular challenges, dance routines, lip sync videos, comedy memes, and many more cool ideas.
But what makes TikTok uniquely effective compared to other social platforms? Let's break it down.
Here's some key data:
○ Analysts had estimated that TikTok would have more than 1.5 billion users by this month (January 2024). With such a huge user base, forecasts predicted that over 1 trillion TikTok videos would be viewed globally by 2024 by TikTok users around the world.
○ In September 2022 alone, TikTok hit an estimated 77.5 billion views just for videos using the #BeReal trend hashtag.
○ In 2022, the most popular TikTok accounts generated an insane number of over 8 billion views each month. In 2021, TikTok videos received 720 billion views, or an average of 60 billion monthly views on average.
○ Some forecasts had predicted TikTok's total global video views would surpass 1.5 trillion last year, as both user base and time spent per-user continued to rise.
○ The United States had accounted for more than 200 billion TikTok video views by the end of 2022.
How Music Artists Can Go Viral on TikTok
○ If you're an independent artist, you can get your music heard on this huge platform by using TikTok music promotion by placing your music on TikTok videos. There are many TikTok promotional services, such as One Submit, for example.
○ The platform offers TikTok promotion service that allow artists to submit music to TikTok influencers with up to 4 million followers. With an optional video concept, the TikTok campaign can gain your song millions of streams. Bear in mind that you'll need to have the right catchy track and the right viral video to explode in such a way. If the TikTok algorithm spots the video as a new viral video, it can expose the video to a larger audience and potential new fans very quickly.
○ You'll need to provide your own TikTok sound link or your audio clip, and the TikTok user will create a video based on your music clip.
You'll receive real-time campaign analytics, and if the TikTok content is catchy enough, it is always recommended to create an artist's official TikTok account in addition to music promotion using influencers. Another option to expose your music is to create videos on your own TikTok profile using your own music, even if you're just starting out.
Here Are Some Examples of The Most Viewed TikTok Influencers:
■ khaby.lame: The comedy TikTok user Khabane Lame has over 3.2 billion likes across over 2,900 of his own videos, making it the most-viewed TikTok channel.
■ charlidamelio: With over 151 million followers, the account of Charli D'Amelio has amassed over 35.6 billion likes across 4,700+ videos.
■ bellapoarch: Pop singer Bella Poarch's official account has over 93 million followers and 51 billion video likes on 2,600+ posts.
With all this massive data, views, and interaction on the social platform, TikTok music promotion is essential for music creators who want to promote music.
Artists Success Stories on TikTok
Here are some examples of artists who found success promoting their music on TikTok:
Lil Nas X
○ With the help of TikTok, gifted musician Lil Nas X transformed an abandoned city street into a hit song in 2019, making him the poster child for effective music promotion. The song gained attention from the mainstream industry after it went viral on TikTok following its initial release in meme clips. The song accomplished the extraordinary achievement of topping the Billboard charts for a whopping 19 weeks.
Doja Cat
○ “Say So” by Doja Cat is a catchy pop song that became really famous on TikTok through dancing challenges and went on to become a successful song on the charts and radio in 2020. To demonstrate the choreography for the song, Doja carefully partnered with well-known TikTok influencers like Addison Rae, which increased the song's virality to a wider audience. On the Billboard Hot 100 list, it rose to the top.
Tai Verdes
○ Having started as an Indie artist, Tai Verdes is a Los Angeles-based indie pop singer who made it to fame on TikTok in 2021 thanks to his upbeat song "Stuck in the Middle." After only releasing a brief sample of the chorus, this song swiftly gained popularity as the soundtrack for many TikTok videos, landing the artist a significant record deal with Arista Records and a position in Spotify's top 10.
Priscilla Block
○ Country singer-songwriter Priscilla Block saw her 2020 single “Just About Over You” gain momentum after using a TikTok snippet for a makeup tutorial video. As it spread across #BeautyTok videos, the song became a top 15 country radio hit for an unsigned artist. Block has since signed with Mercury Nashville.
Role Model
○ After years as an underground artist, indie-pop singer Role Model saw career transformation in 2021 when their song “forever&more” went viral on TikTok through lyric videos and transitions. Role Model leveraged the momentum into a record deal with Interscope and over 150 million streams.
Why TikTok is a Pro Artist Platform
While other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook focus on lifestyle content, TikTok is optimized first and foremost for music discovery via its signature short videos. The chosen soundtrack is the backbone of every TikTok clip. This makes the app a natural hub for emerging artists. Other music platforms can also help promote your music such as Spotify or Apple music using Spotify playlist submission, which is a great way to gain followers, fans, and streams.
Viral Momentum
TikTok's "Sounds" feature allows users to sample any clip of a song. If your track starts gaining traction by TikTok's algorithm, it exponentially spreads as more creators hop on trends. Popularity begets more popularity. Songs blow up at an unbelievable pace as hits reach hundreds of millions of views.
Mainstream Validator
Given TikTok's influence on youth culture, songs naturally catch fire on the platform before crossing over to mainstream popularity. This offers indie artists priceless organic signal boosting. Once the TikTok video hits a certain velocity, the industry takes notice and your reach expands.
Data-Driven Discovery
TikTok's recommendation algorithm analyzes user behavior and preferences to serve up tailored content with laser precision. It notes which songs users engage with and pushes those selections into more feeds. This allows indie artists to be efficiently matched with ideal new listeners.
Democratizing Platform
Unlike Instagram where influencers reign, TikTok can transform regular users into overnight viral sensations. This levels the playing field, as indie artists don't compete with established stars. TikTok values content quality and creativity first and foremost over follower counts.
In Summary
For unsigned musicians, TikTok promotions present the most fertile ground today for propelling your songs from obscurity into viral memes. Harness the app's unique mechanics by creating engaging videos using your music and collaborating with aligned creators, a music PR service, or do your own research and contact influencers directly. TikTok offers perhaps the most efficient channel for independent artists to expand their audience exponentially.