Pop Stars are taking over TikTok
This past week has been a busy one in the music world with the release of Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Midnights album as well as Carly Rae Jepsen and Meghan Trainor’s new albums.
Other than them being great tunes (some of us in the office can’t stop singing them), it’s been fascinating to see how record labels’ marketing strategies have changed over the last few years across social media.
Taylor’s new Anti-Hero music video ended with an invitation to participate in the #TSAntiHeroChallenge on TikTok. The catchy tune inspired users to make fun of themselves and encouraged fans to help (over) share the song, turning it into the perfect trending sound.
Carly’s viral TikTok featuring her new song ‘I’m coming back for you, baby!’ was a perfect return for the star. Not only did it convey the comeback theme just right, but she also made everyone jump on the bandwagon – the song is still trending!
Meghan jumped on board with a dance created by TikTokers to go along with her new single’s catchy lines!’ The singer participated in the Carly trend, mentioning both Taylor and Carly’s albums for an ultimate twist of events, showing how much support there is between the three pop stars.
All of these trends and strategies have encouraged UGC (User-Generated Content), making the songs that they’re advertising become more authentic and fun, especially when celebrities also get involved.
How do TikTok Sounds work?
The sound feature on TikTok is where all trending content starts. From catchy dialogue to new trending songs - the sound tab is where you’ll find all viral content! TikTok influencers keep their views high by recreating these trends and therefore keeping the algorithm on their side.
Lizzo has definitely been named the queen of TikTok because of how viral her songs and dances have gone. She and her songs are a great example of sounds being used to create brand awareness. Her 2022 hit song ‘It’s About Damn Time’ is full of catchy one-liners which started many a TikTok trend this year. One of the key things artists such as Lizzo are doing with these sounds is creating repetitious and infectious sounds which leave users wanting more.
What does this mean for the future of music?
Artists using TikTok trends for their marketing strategy is definitely a new development in the music world. Seeing your favourite singers on the platform makes them appear more relatable, and we can imagine they’re not following some calculated marketing plan (even though they usually are)!
The rise of TikTok in the music industry has seen some artists express difficulty with being encouraged by their labels to make TikTok content and create trending songs. This definitely shows that traditional marketing of music through radio releases and talk shows is slowly being put on the back burner. Instead, songs are blowing up and trending on the platform like they never have before. TikTok has clearly taken this on board with their TikTok Music Charts account showing which songs are trending weekly…watch out Spotify!