Trend Analysis
September 22, 2024
Peter McPoland performs at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, (Hustler Multimedia/Sara West)
After seeing DIY artists like Peter McPoland and JVKE go viral on TikTok and wake up the next day music stars, there has been a rise in both emerging and established musicians’ use of the platform to amplify their music and themselves. Record labels have started to understand the grip that social media platforms have on younger generations, which has led them to both use the platforms for new artist discovery, and push their artists to become active on them. In turn, this has led musicians to assume a large responsibility for their own marketing and promotion tactics, and in many ways, has forced them to evolve from just musicians, to a musician-influencer hybrid.
The question of what goes viral is one that many have been trying to crack. Most of the time, musicians post as much as possible, hoping that eventually something sticks and the public takes their 20-second song snippet and creates a dance, challenge, or montage to accompany it. To get something to stick, musicians have started posting prolifically, with Mary Rahmani, former TikTok Exec turned Label manager recommending changing from three to five times a week, to three to five times a day in less than a year.
Despite most artists following this somewhat haphazard strategy, certain patterns have started to emerge. When looking at songs that have gone viral, it is easy to find that a lot of them have a twenty to thirty-second segment that is either very actionable or memorable, which then prompts people to create and continue a trend. Musician Orla Garland highlights this point by explaining that music that, “does well on [TikTok] is rarely going to age well because it's strange nursery rhyme music that makes no sense outside [the] platform.” Music made expressly to succeed on TikTok is rarely complex and often superficial and repetitive, to maximize the probability of its virality. In a moment where artificial intelligence and its role in music are so debated, separating humans from music by nudging artists to create music optimized for virality is precarious.
For every simplistic song designed to go viral that has done so, there are also “normal” songs that went viral due to chance. Examples of this include “End of Beginning” by Djo, “Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine, or “World Smallest Violin” by AJR. Although many up-and-coming artists dream of their song going viral, the reality is that it is not always as glamorous as it seems. Frequently, virality gives artists a spotlight moment, but makes it hard to connect with fans that will attend concerts and buy merch in the long term.
AJR explains that given the nature of their somewhat genre-less music catalog, virality did not guarantee that people would like their other music. Similarly, Lizzy McAlpine explains that after her song “Ceilings” went viral, people would go to her shows just to hear the song live, “I was playing “Ceilings”, in the middle, towards the end of the set (…) every night I would just watch people get up and walk out after I played it.”
In the current panorama of the music industry, where a lot of the value is held in touring and merch sales, viral songs do not necessarily translate to longevity in the industry. Instead of the focus being on going viral and having a hit, it should shift on building a career that can be sustainable. However, for a select few artists, TikTok has been the push needed to be reliable and worth the investment in the eyes of labels, so what distinguishes the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, whose song ‘Drivers Licence’ propelled her into stardom, and all the artists who will remain one hit wonders?
“Drivers License” is a strange phenomenon to look at because for one, aspects of the song were optimized to gain traction on social media, but additionally, Rodrigo was already a public figure and starring in various Disney Channel shows made her well known for TikTok’s large percentage of Gen Z users. When the emotionally charged ballad came out, people wanted to know more about it, leading the song to be a gateway to both celebrity scandal and a deep affinity to Rodrigo herself.
Similarly, although McAlpine’s song “Ceilings” virality has led to a few complications, she acknowledges that it has given her more negotiation leverage with her label and management team. While touring her new album Older, it allowed her to design a touring experience with more control.
On the other hand, Tai Verdes –who waited years for his big break– was working at Verizon and documenting his journey before “Stuck in the Middle” went viral. His connection with his audience before the success of the song and the plethora of content that viewers could rely on to get to know him after finding the song worked similarly to Rodrigo’s strategy. Verdes was already a persona, albeit a small one, but nonetheless someone that people could root for.
This showcases the importance of building an audience and establishing an identity before going viral. It is why being on social media is so imperative, and why posting about things other than newly released songs is what labels want from their (especially new) artists.
Juggling being part of the influencer/creator community while trying to be a full-time musician is no easy feat. This explains the shift towards creating music optimized for the algorithm, which rarely ages well and seldom translates to longevity.
Nonetheless, TikTok remains a valuable tool, despite its frustrations. By learning to use it as a platform for building community rather than solely for mass promotion, artists can better position themselves to attract and retain fans, and if the opportunity arises, benefit from viral moments. Similarly, creating songs designed to go viral is ineffective and potentially counterintuitive when trying to escape the one-hit wonder phenomenon that TikTok can cause, and become a career musician.
Juggling being part of the influencer/creator community and trying to be a full-time musician is no easy feat. This explains widespread frustrations and thus, the shift towards creating music optimized for the algorithm, which rarely ages well and seldom translates to a career of longevity.
Regardless of artists' frustrations brought on by the nature of the app, TikTok should not be disregarded as a tool. By learning to use it as a platform to build community rather than serve the sole purpose of mass promotion, artists can better position themselves to attract and retain fans, and if the opportunity arises, benefit from viral moments. Similarly, creating songs designed to go viral is ineffective and potentially counterintuitive when trying to escape the one-hit wonder phenomenon that TikTok can cause, and become a career musician.
On a similar note, it's imperative for labels to understand the mental load that can come with trying to be a musician and influencer at the same time, and diversify promotional strategy and marketing techniques. The likelihood of going viral, especially in a way that is conducive to a good career, is small, and is not worth the burnout and burden placed on artists.
Rather than focusing solely on short-term virality, both artists and labels should prioritize building meaningful connections with audiences, leveraging TikTok as a tool for engagement and community-building rather than a shortcut to success. As the music industry continues to evolve, it’s essential to strike a balance that allows artists to thrive creatively without sacrificing their mental health or long-term potential in the pursuit of a viral moment.
P.S. Click here to learn more directly from the artists on how they came up with their viral hits!
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