TIKTOK: Why Is It So Musically Influential?

Over the last decade, we have seen a multitude of artists taking advantage of their largely followed social media accounts to promote their new music or anything that they're involved in. The likes of Twitter and Instagram are good examples of this; however, there is a new way of doing promo in this ever-changing world. In 2020, TikTok was the most globally downloaded app, with an extraordinary 850 million people installing the new phenomenon. Possibly, there may be artists that would rather remain on Twitter and Instagram because they're very familiar with the two, but at first glance, it seems as though TikTok will be in it for the long haul and the app is only getting more popular.

If the logo below looks familiar to you, then you are correct in your thinking. You may remember the app, Musically, I’m sure that rings a bell, right?

In 2017, the same company that owns TikTok, ByteDance LTD, acquired Musically and proceeded to shut it down and transform it into TikTok the following year.

TikTok has the ability to single-handedly cause an increase in listens for many artists on all their streaming platforms - but why? The prominent acceleration of trends has helped many artists around the world. A trend equates to a topic/situation being on the tip of everyone's tongues, which could ultimately lead to a cycle of individuals imitating it - bringing exposure to them. Usually on the app, users will take a particular part of any song and take that 10-15 seconds to create a funny, relatable or informative video that could be seen by millions all around the world — then you enter a rabbit hole.

So, why does this help the artist? Well, when we hear a song repeatedly we tend to find ourselves searching for it on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music. Let’s see some examples of this:

Coming from his first album ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans,’ Bruno Mars’ song "Talking to the moon" has been everywhere on TikTok, which has seen the song enter his Top 5 most popular on Spotify.

Another artist that has felt the benefits of a TikTok trend is Giveon, and his popular song "Heartbreak Anniversary.” The trend consists of a simple but effective dance routine, that can be done anywhere. "Heartbreak Anniversary" is arguably his most successful solo single to date, and with it being such an amazing and relatable song, you'll definitely be hearing it and him for a long while.

One of the main reasons why Giveon is popular is because of his unique baritone vocals. In a male, it’s not often that you’ll discover a talent with this voice type, the way it instantly relaxes you is second to none.

Of course, there is no point of mentioning these trends without praising the UK drill track that made it to #1 in the UK official charts, noticeably, with the help of TikTok. Tion Wayne & Russ' infectious track ”Body.” The drill track has mustered thousands of supportive fans that have allowed the song to grow more than what was probably expected. The hype from the song seems to be on a constant rise with Russ pushing it on his main account, gaining over 1 million likes and counting - with Tion also consistently promoting the song on his account. Following this, they quickly brought out a remix, where Brighton rapper, ArrDee, introduced himself to the world with his infamous verse.

With this app, you won't even realise that one hour has flown by, just scrolling and double-tapping. During that time, it's likely that you would’ve seen multiple videos that are following the same trend, with the same song inserted — allowing the song to find a place in your head rent free — heightened more because of how the song emotionally communicated with you at that time.

You’ll start to realise that there is a common denominator in videos, especially with the same song inserted. Soon enough, “oh, I’ve heard that on TikTok,” will be part of your daily conversation. At the same time, we’re starting to see a wave of amazing unrecognised talent because of the app - with their songs being heard by millions. So rather than you coming away from it with the video in your mind, it’ll be the infectious song.

In life, there will always be bandwagons for people to jump on, and TikTok is no different. Popular circulating songs will be used by many, and it’ll become a community of millions brought together by one song - meaning more free promo for an artist.

What makes it different from other apps?

Well, for one, there is more room to get your creative juices flowing - with trendy challenges and dance routines. In terms of filters and effects, if we put TikTok up against Instagram and Twitter, TikTok arguably blows both out of the water. A few examples of this can include their amazing Stich and Duet features - making the app more interesting.

Without a doubt, TikTok has definitely changed the game, and it’ll take something special to overtake its current and future success. But do you think it’ll be around for a long while? We will just have to wait and see...