The copycat nature of social media may seem strange right now, but it’s happening for a good reason.
TikTok understands the value of individual experiences. Rather than treat people as part of a community based on their connection like most apps, TikTok treats people as unique individuals. No two recommendation feeds are the same, and that approach is turning heads throughout the tech world.
By offering more personalized user experiences, apps are learning more about us. That information is fueling a new era in marketing and advertising, which Music Biz host James Shotwell explains at length in this update. Click below to learn why there has never been a better time—or reason—to start making video content.
Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.
From the end of Spotify’s Car Thing to the impending launch of TikTok Music, we’ve gathered all the music news you need to know.
Can you believe it’s August? We are seven full months into 2022, and most haven’t had enough time to catch their breath, let alone catch up on music news. If you have been reading, it’s most likely related to your work. That’s understandable. We do the same.
We cannot ease your workload or give you more hours in the day, but we can help you stay informed. Below you’ll find the biggest stories of the week, all covered by the best outlets in tech and entertainment. Click around, learn what’s happening, and use the weekend to prepare for the end of the month.
But let’s be honest. There is no way we can hope to cover everything that happens. If you see a headline we missed that people need to know, please do not hesitate to send james@haulix.com an email. We’ll include your links in the next update.
Spotify has unceremoniously stopped making the dash-mounted “Car Thing,” its first hardware device, the company announced this week.
The change was announced as part of Spotify’s latest earnings release for shareholders, which said that developing the Car Thing cost €31 million (approximately $32 million USD) and that its overall gross margin was “negatively impacted by our decision to stop manufacturing Car Thing.” Spotify told TechCrunch:
Based on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to stop further production of Car Thing units. Existing devices will perform as intended. This initiative has unlocked helpful learnings, and we remain focused on the car as an important place for audio.
Announced in April last year, the short-lived device first went on sale in the United States in February for $89.99. It was designed to be an in-car dash-mounted music and podcast player to provide a more seamless and personalized listening experience, especially in the large number of cars that do not support modern in-car infotainment systems or Apple CarPlay.
Concord is expanding its interests in the Australasian market by acquiring a key independent music publisher in the region, Native Tongue.
With offices in both Australia and New Zealand, Native Tongue has its own roster of songwriters and also represents a significant network of other publishers from around the world in the Australasian market. And for more than ten years now, that has included Concord Music.
The company’s founder, Chris Gough, went into semi-retirement in 2014, with the business being managed day to day by his children Jaime and Chelsea. They will now head up what will be known as Concord Music Publishing ANZ, as Managing Director and Senior VP respectively.
Confirming the deal, Chris Gough says: “Jaime and Chelsea along with our wonderful team of people have grown the company significantly in recent years. This is the next step, providing our home-grown writers with a truly international organisation capable of maximising their potential worldwide”.
SoundCloud will be laying off approximately 20% of its global workforce citing “a significant company transformation” and the current economic and financial landscape.
“During this difficult time, we are focused on providing the support and resources to those transitioning while reinforcing our commitment to executing our mission to lead what’s next in music,” reads a statement by a rep for SoundCloud.
Earlier this year, SoundCloud began detailing changes to the company with the aim of providing increased levels of artist-focused support by incrementally upping monetization and providing additional distribution tools for artists at all levels of their careers. In this year alone, the company has teamed up with Pandora and Splice, acquired artificial intelligence company, Musiio, and also entered a joint venture with management and creative services company, Solid Foundation.
The music industry is paying tribute to powerhouse record executive Mo Ostin who died “peacefully in his sleep” on Sunday evening, according to a statement from Warner Records. He was 95 years old.
Ostin oversaw the careers of a long list of marquee talent: The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Prince among them.
Born in New York to Russian immigrants, Ostin’s early years in the business were spent at the jazz label Verve. In 1960, when Frank Sinatra started his own record label, Reprise, he hired Ostin as its administrative vice president. Reprise was eventually bought by Warner Records.
In 1970, Ostin became president of Warner Bros. Records. Under his leadership, the company was home to both mainstream pop stars like James Taylor and Fleetwood Mac to edgier artists such as Frank Zappa and The Sex Pistols.
ByteDance may be preparing for a global launch of TikTok Music service, according to trademarks filed in several countries found by TechCrunch. The China-based conglomerate has filed TikTok Music trademark in countries like the U.K., Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, Malaysia and Costa Rica.
All of these trademark filings include similar text about the application’s functionality of listening to music, creating playlists, commenting on songs and participating in karaoke.
The trademark application says it would allow “users to purchase, play, share, download music, songs, albums, lyrics, quotes, create, recommend, share his/her playlists, lyrics, quotes, take, edit and upload photographs as the cover of playlists, comment on music, songs and albums.”
ByteDance already operates a music streaming service called Resso in India, Brazil and Indonesia, and a former ByteDance employee told us it had previously considered bringing this service to more markets under a “TikTok Music” title. Specifically, it had been considering launches in mature markets like the U.K. and Australia, the source said.
A new partnership with Ticketmaster pushes TikTok further into the musical space, and fans everywhere are reaping the rewards.
TikTok is where the vast majority of human beings go to discover music.
There is no typo in that sentence. TikTok is a global phenomenon, and in three short years, it has helped hundreds, maybe even thousands of acts elevate their careers.
Everyone is looking at TikTok for music, meaning everyone selling music wants a piece of the action.
Ticketmaster and TikTok are partnering to launch an in-app feature that lets users discover events through the popular short-form video app. With this new partnership, TikTok users can buy tickets for events they’re interested in directly through TikTok. Creators can now search for relevant Ticketmaster events and add destination links to their videos. Ticketmaster says the new feature will only be available to select creators at launch and will scale to more users over time.
Eligible creators can now select the “Add link” option after tapping and selecting the new Ticketmaster option before posting a video. Creators can search for any event on Ticketmaster and select “Add to video” to add the link. Once creators share their video, it will display the event link on the bottom-left, allowing viewers to click and purchase tickets via an in-app browser.
Many artists and personalities have already signed on to begin using the ticketing mini app including Demi Lovato, OneRepublic, Usher, the Backstreet Boys, WWE and more, Ticketmaster says.
News of Ticketmaster’s partnership with TikTok comes less than six months after a similar partnership was launched with Snapchat. It’s clear the ticketing giant is staying atop trends in consumer behavior, but the adoption rate remains to be seen.
Would you purchase concert tickets on TikTok? Email james@haulix.com and let me know!
The popularity of TikTok is leading a revolution in music release strategies that is unlike anything we’ve witnessed in decades.
Music marketing and release strategies are at the heart of every artist’s career. How and when you release music matters as much as the content itself—sometimes more—and for the better part of twenty years, virtually every album has followed a similar promotional path:
Step One: The artist or group announces the upcoming release of a new song
Step Two: The artist or group teases that release with audio clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and anything else they can develop while sharing Haulix links with journalists and tastemakers.
Step Three: The artist or group asks fans to presave and preorder the unreleased material.
Step Four: The song finally comes out.
Step Five: The artist or group continues promoting the song’s release.
Step Six: The artist or group continues teasing the song with audio clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and anything else they can develop.
Traditional industry thinking tells us that you must promote music before its release because it’s the only way to guarantee strong first-week sales, which often determines how much support a record will receive moving forward. History teaches us that if an artist fails to deliver an impressive launch week, the likelihood their label continues to pump money and attention into their career falls drastically.
That line of thinking is outdated.
As Bob Dylan said, “The times, they are a-changin'” because a new generation of musicians refuses to follow tradition. Between the boom of TikTok and the rise of the “give it to me now or I don’t want it” culture, artists are choosing a more direct path to release and promotion.
Step One: The artist or group releases a new song.
Step Two: Promotion.
That’s it.
TikTok is an amazing tool for discovery, connecting users with an endless variety of content creators algorithmically-tailored to their interests. When someone hears a song snippet they enjoy, logic dictates they will head to the creator’s profile, hoping to find their music online. If the user then visits the artist’s page and FAILS to find the song they heard on TikTok, the chances they save the artist and return later are virtually non-existent. In other words, you have one chance to grab someone’s attention, and if you blow it, they [most likely] won’t return.
To avoid this problem, artists are now choosing to skip promoting new material until it’s available worldwide. The risk of losing potential fans because you went viral before the release date is too high for most to gamble, but that’s not the only reason.
The so-called “TikTok Approach” is also a cost-effective promotional solution for cash-strapped independent artists whose marketing budgets often equate to whatever they can spare after paying for living expenses. Rather than waste your money teasing a song or record people cannot yet enjoy, spend your pre-release time creating content you can share immediately following the song’s premiere. Any engagement will lead to immediate streams (AKA money).
And it’s not just independent artists shifting their thinking around releases. Everywhere you look, the time between a song or album announcement and the release date is shrinking. Even Post Malone, arguably one of the world’s biggest musicians, announced his recent 2022 album only six weeks before its initial release. The first single? A surprise release.
What about preorders?
We live in a new world where the pipeline delays of recent years have drastically changed consumer expectations. Delays between digital and physical releases are to be expected. Most fans don’t mind because they view your vinyl, CD, or cassette as memorabilia. Its primary purpose is to be a physical manifestation of their fandom, which they can hold, showcase, and enjoy. Using it for consuming music is, for better or worse, becoming secondary.
Launch preorders on release day. Launch everything on release day. The same people who would preorder the vinyl three months before release day will still place an order because they want the product regardless.
Making this one adjustment to your next release strategy will ultimately save time and money. More importantly, it will give anyone interested in your music instant access to it. You want as few barriers between strangers and hearing your music as possible, and in our quickly evolving world, that requires making changes as culture dictates it necessary.
Remember the phrase, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”? The same applies to release strategies. Stop fooling around and deliver. Your fans will be thrilled to see new music, and anyone new won’t have to wait around to see if you’re as good as your teasers claim. Everybody wins.
Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Pure Noise Records, and more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.
From the return of Pantera to TikTok’s growing Gen-Z influence, we’re bringing you the biggest music news stories of the week.
Can you believe we are already halfway through July? Not only is the year half over, but so is the seventh month? If you’re feeling like time is flying, you’re not alone. Back-to-school advertising has already started, and dozens of musicians have started promoting fall tours. Before we know it, Christmas music will be on the radio. **Shudders**
Working in music is hard enough. Learning about what is happening in the industry shouldn’t be an uphill battle requiring four websites, two premium memberships, and repeat daily visits to feel like you know what’s happening. You work too hard for that nonsense, so we’ve taken the liberty of scouring the net to find the biggest music news stories in places where learning won’t cost you a dime.
But let’s be honest. There is no way we can hope to cover everything that happens. If you see a headline we missed that people need to know, please do not hesitate to send james@haulix.com an email. We’ll include your links in the next update.
As reported by Billboard, Pantera‘s surviving members — Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown — will be hitting the road for a long-speculated reunion tour in 2023. They’ve signed with Artist Group International to book their North American dates, with Dennis Arfa and Peter Pappalardo as the responsible agents.
“We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic band and bringing their music back to the fans,” Pappalardo commented.
Black Label Society bandleader and Ozzy Osbourne sideman Zakk Wylde and Anthrax’s Charlie Benante have been revealed as the guitarist and drummer for the tour.
Heardle, a music trivia game that popped up following the massive success of Wordle, has a new owner. Spotify has announced it’s buying the game. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. As The Verge notes, Heardle is Spotify’s first game acquisition.
Heardle is a straightforward game of name that tune. Players are given six attempts to guess a popular song. They hear one second of the intro at first. Heardle lets them hear a little more after each incorrect guess (they can also skip turns). There’s only one song each day for everyone to guess.
Whether or not you correctly identify the song, you can click through to hear the full track after finishing a round. That caught the attention of Spotify, which is pegging Heardle as a music discovery tool. Until now, the game has been using music hosted on Soundcloud.
“We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” Spotify’s global head of music Jeremy Erlich said. “Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs… and a way to compete with their friends as to who has the best musical knowledge. Since its debut, the game has quickly built a loyal following, and it aligns with our plans to deepen interactivity across the Spotify ecosystem.”
Neon and Universal Pictures Content Group today announced that Brett Morgen’s David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream will hit theaters globally on September 16 outside of Japan, where it unspools in March of 2023. Neon will distribute the film in the U.S., with UPCG handling international.
The first feature doc on Bowie to have been sanctioned by the artist’s estate, Moonage Daydream will screen on Imax in select territories.
TikTok is coming for more than just its social media competitors.
Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers searching on TikTok and Instagram over Google Search and Maps, according to Google’s internal data first reported by TechCrunch.
TikTok, which is the fastest-growing social media app, has exploded in popularity over the past few years — so much so that it inspired social media competitors Instagram and Snapchat to roll out copycat video features in Reels and Spotlight.
Now, a Google executive has confirmed that TikTok’s format is changing the way young people conduct internet searches, and Google is working to keep up.
Google senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan told the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference that according to Google’s internal studies, “something like almost 40% of young people when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram.”
Google confirmed this statistic to Insider, saying, “we face robust competition from an array of sources, including general and specialized search engines, as well as dedicated apps.”
Song of the week: Fellowship – “Until The Fires Die”
President Trump's executive order against Bytedance-owned TikTok goes into effect this Sunday, September 20.
In an incredible new documentary short, VOX and The Pudding deliver an in-depth look at the wild and miraculous ways TikTok is upending the music business.
Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta sharply criticized the rush to ink TikTokers to lucrative label deals earlier this year by pointing to the lackluster results. “Not any of those [Tiktok stars] that got signed to big deals have worked,” Borchetta bluntly assessed while urging others to consider the difference between “a moment” and longer-term success potential.
But many in the industry believe Borchetta’s comments may miss the bigger picture. While many artists who experience past viral success on TikTok do not have the talent or community-building skills to leverage that moment into bigger opportunities, others do, and an increasing number of musicians are choosing to forgo the allure of major label deals in preference of the DIY lifestyle.
After all, what can a label offer someone whose already garnered more success and attention than artists on that label’s roster?
The answer, it seems, depends on your understanding of business. As a new documentary short from VOX and The Pudding explores, TikTok has forced labels and artists to reconsider how they interact with one another. As one talking head puts it, “It turns out the app is completely revolutionizing the way record labels work and giving artists more leverage than ever.”
VOX and The Pudding spent months pouring over datasets related to TikTok success, industry signings, and revenue to uncover the truth. They also spoke to a dozen or so experts on the topic, including former TikTok executives and music industry experts.
TikTok is where people discover music in 2022, so we’ve put together the ultimate guide for getting noticed.
TikTok is here to stay. Within a few short years, the wildly successful video sharing platform has become one of the world’s most popular apps, surpassing Facebook and Instagram in 2021 as the most used app in the United States. TikTok has become known for its ability to take complete unknowns and catapult them in front of millions overnight, all thanks to an insanely well-tuned algorithm. For all the gripes and criticism people may have, TikTok seems to be the one place online where truly anyone can have a chance at digital success.
But let’s be honest. You’ve probably tried creating TikTok content with mediocre results, or you’ve avoided making anything because you’re unsure how to start. Either way, it’s fine!
Starting a new platform is scary, especially when you understand how beneficial that service can potentially be for your career.
First thing’s first—If you haven’t started posting to TikTok yet, now is the time.
Don’t know what you’re doing? No problem! Nobody does at first.
The only person expecting you to be a TikTok perfectionist is you!
Got it? Okay! Let’s begin.
What Counts As A View On TikTok?
Each platform counts views in different ways. TikTok keeps it simple. From the second your video plays, it’s considered a view. There is no minimum watch time beyond that initial, split-second engagement.
Watching your own video on replay 100x over does not generate 100 views. TikTok doesn’t count views from your own account.
I see a lot of accounts using #FYP and #ForYouPage hashtags. Do I need to do that?
No evidence using #FYP or #ForYouPage increases the likelihood of a video receiving widespread distribution exists. Here is a TikTok from social media guru Jack Appleby explaining the uselessness of these hashtags:
What kind of videos work best for [insert your niche here] musicians?
The answer could be anything, and that is why TikTok is beloved by millions. There is no one way to engage with users, build an audience, or promote your art. Some musicians strictly share high-quality, polished clips on their TikTok, and others post raw demos almost daily. Certain artists barely post music, such as Doja Cat, but that doesn’t mean her content isn’t helping her streams or ticket sales. Personality will get you far on the internet, and that is particularly true on TikTok.
If you’re not getting any views on your TikToks, be patient and don’t give up. TikTok is all about trial and error. Finding your groove can take time. With the following tips and a consistent posting schedule, you’ll start to see the views rise. We believe in you.
Optimizing Your Content For The ‘For You’ Page
The goal of every TikTok user is to get featured on the app’s For You page (otherwise known as FYP). The FYP is your homepage on the app, and it algorithmically curates an endless feed of content tailored to your interests.
The For You page is great because anyone can be featured, and we mean anyone. TikTok’s unique distribution system gives every video a chance at going viral, so any great piece of content may be the thing that changes your life forever.
Still, it’s best to hedge your bets by optimizing your content for FYP distribution. Some ways to do this include:
Use relevant keywords or hashtags in your captions
Be consistent in your niche
Use trending audio
Prioritize shorter videos (Although TikTok allows videos up to several minutes in length, the average watch time per user per clip is much shorter. One report found users watched between 3 and 5 seconds, on average, before moving on.)
Post at optimal times (Our friends at Later have a fantastic guide to finding the best time for your content)
Engage With Users And Content In Your Niche
The best compliment anyone can pay TikTok is that it has cultivated a space where every niche has a place, and there is room for every niche. No matter what you make or how you sound, an audience is waiting for you on TikTok. The problem is finding them.
If you know your niche, think about what content they’d want to see and the type of creators they would likely follow. Once you have a list, start searching for and engaging with that content. Follow the creators that already exist in your niche, and be sure to comment on their clips. Start building these relationships by merely being present, and in time, you will find you’ve become part of a supportive community that is eager for your next post.
Don’t shy away from trending sounds and effects, even those with music
Someone will read this guide and scoff at the idea of using someone else’s song to promote their content. “I’m not Dua Lipa,” they’ll think, “what could “Levitate” ever do for me?
Studies have shown that one of the best ways to get more views on TikTok is by following popular trends on the platform. That includes the use of sounds and effects.
There’s a theory among some TikTokers that adding a trending sound to your video — even at a low volume — will trick the algorithm into showing your content to more people.
Whether or not that is proven to be true, it makes sense. TikTok’s algorithm wants to show users more of the content they already love, so using videos that share the same sound or effect would likely fall under that umbrella.
Always use keywords in your captions (even if it feels obvious)
TikTok has an incredible search functionality designed to quickly connect users with the content and creators they want to discover. That means writing relevant captions using descriptive keywords can greatly impact your content’s discoverability.
Let’s use heavy metal as an example. Many people may assume heavy metal has no place on TikTok, but that is not true. Heavy metal has a thriving community on TikTok, but users are not likely to stumble upon it blindly. Those hoping to see heavy metal content will need to search for it, meaning they’ll likely use terms such as “heavy metal” and “heavy metal music” to see what creators and creations exist on the app.
Andrew Baena uses TikTok to promote his band Carcosa without using their music.
For artists, this presents an opportunity for an easy win. By describing your music and style in the captions of your content, you open yourself up to discovery from users seeking out new content. It’s a match made in heaven opportunity available to anyone smart enough to describe themselves in every caption.
Here are some simple examples of how a heavy metal act might caption their TikTok content:
“Looking for brutal heavy metal? Check out our new song, “TITLE GOES HERE”!”
“Where are our fellow metalheads at?”
“We wrote this song with mosh pits in mind. Any heavy metal fans coming to [insert festival performance]?”
“We’re a heavy metal band from [insert your hometown], and this is our story.”
As you can see, each caption uses keywords and phrases that heavy metal fans are likely to search.
Short videos often perform best. Here’s why:
Watching full videos is a strong indicator of interest, especially when they loop so well that viewers watch them multiple times. That is why TikTok’s algorithm emphasizes shorter videos. The app may allow for videos up to 10 minutes in length, but most users—new accounts in particular—are more likely to see higher viewership with shorter videos.
This is a great example of a short video with a looping sound that can easily trick viewers into multiple repeat viewings.
At the bare minimum, experts say videos need at least three seconds of average viewership to get an algorithmic boost. Design your video so that viewers feel compelled to watch at least that long.
It bears repeating: Post valuable content
When considering what to post on TikTok, ask yourself the following questions:
What do I like to watch on TikTok?
What would make me want to listen to an artist?
What would make me not want to listen to an artist?
How do I sell myself to someone whose never heard my music?
What are other artists in my niche doing? Would something similar work for me?
Do I find this entertaining?
Independent artist Nic D found success on TikTok by posting short performances of his music in public places. His TikTok is filled with videos of him performing in nail salons, restaurants, city streets, mountain tops, and virtually anywhere else can name. For music, Nic uses specific clips from his songs repeatedly to emphasize their catchiness. Here’s an example:
The answers you come up with will serve as the basis for your initial content offerings. Finding major success may take time, but that’s okay. TikTok is a platform that encourages experimentation. If your first few videos don’t land the way you hope, pivot and try something else. If the results still don’t match expectations, try another idea. Repeat that process until something clicks, then make the most of that momentum.
Remember: Entertainment is key to TikTok success. If your video isn’t engaging, people won’t watch.
Cross-promote on other platforms
There was a time when social media gurus told us that cross-platform promotion was bad. “Tweets are for Twitter,” they would say to us, but that is no longer the case.
Today, the biggest accounts on Instagram are filled with memes utilizing Twitter screenshots for content. The biggest tweets often contain viral TikTok or noteworthy Instagram posts.
Everything worth posting on one platform is worth considering for others.
there is a guy on tiktok who plays old video game tunes like church music and i cannot get enough of it pic.twitter.com/DKjujOrvzi
Sharing your TikTok videos to Instagram Stories or Twitter (with a clear call-to-action that encourages viewers to check out your TikTok channel) is a great tactic to get more eyes on your content. It ensures your fans are aware of your new account while also showcasing the unique content it can provide. Sharing your TikToks elsewhere may also spark unintended viral success. Who knows? Anything is possible!
Spotify continues to test a long-rumored discovery feature that looks a lot like your TikTok discovery feed.
First came Snapchat stories, and soon, every social media platform on the planet had a stories-like feature. Now, we have TikTok’s discovery feed, and soon, even Spotify will have a feed of its own.
Spotify is currently testing a personalized feed on the app’s home screen, which introduces users to new music through a feed of canvas loops (AKA, those GIFs that appear when you’re listening to certain songs).
If that news sounds familiar, we reported something similar back in November 2021. Twitter user Chris Messina shared screenshots from a test version of Spotify that included a new feature called ‘Discover.’ At the time, the feature appeared as a menu option anchored to the bottom of the app.
Like TikTok, Spotify’s Discover tool will showcase music and the accompanying Canvas clip in a vertical feed. Users will then be able to decide whether or not to listen further. Each decision will influence the algorithm’s recommendations, strengthening Spotify’s ability to give users exactly what they (don’t know they) want.
Every day, this feed — which is currently testing in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — will recommend 15 songs. If you see a track you like on this feed, you can add the song to a playlist, follow the artist or share it on your social channels.
Spotify has not provided a release date for Discover, but we expect it to launch in 2022. In the meantime, watch our video coverage of Discover from late 2021:
TikTok continues to be a leading source of new music discovery, but standing out from the competition can be difficult. We can help.
You should know all about TikTok by now. The insanely popular video-sharing social media platform has over 1 billion downloads worldwide and hundreds of millions of active monthly users. One in three US citizens is on TikTok, and most spend more than an hour on the app each month. That is particularly surprising when you consider that the average view time for a TikTok clip is roughly seven seconds.
What sets TikTok apart is its advanced algorithm. More than any of its competitors, TikTok knows its users. It understands how to take the raw data of their behaviors on the phone and transform it into an endless scroll of semi-relevant videos. The algorithm grows smarter still with each like and swipe, quietly learning everything it needs to keep you glued to your screen a bit longer. In other words, it’s a well-built app.
TikTok is not for everyone, but you won’t know if it works for your music career until you try. However, when presented with limitless possibilities for creativity, most have no idea what to make. Do you share clips or your music, or should you post a cute video of your pet? Will sharing your trip to Target win new listeners? If so, how?
The best thing about getting started with TikTok is that it’s pretty hard to make a mistake. As long as you capture something on video, you can make a post.
Mastering TikTok is a game of trial and error. You will most likely need to make a bunch of different content ideas to find one or two that you can use consistently. That may seem intimidating now, but trust us—it’s easy.
In this Music Biz update, host James Shotwell reflects on TikTok’s quick ascent to the top of the discovery world. He then shares basic advice for musicians starting out on the platform, including video ideas and tips to boost the reach of your content. James also discusses three recent trends on music TikTok that are helping artists get noticed. Check it out:
Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.
Basic tips for TikTok videos:
Autobiographical clips help people know your story in your words
Behind-the-scenes footage takes people into the world of a working musicians
Use trending sounds (even on mute) and relevant hashtags whenever possible
Respond to every comment, and engage with posts you enjoy
Share riveting clips from music videos or live performances
Teach us something only you know, even if it makes no sense
Share your pets
Gives us a tour of your gear
Walk us through your songwriting process
Three surprisingly effective recent TikTok trends for musicians
Ask your fans for inspiration (even if it’s a lie)
Recent pop star Gayle kickstarted her ascent through the music world by posting a clip on TikTok in 2021 asking fans for song ideas. One comment suggesting Gayle write a breakup song using the alphabet caught her attention. A few weeks later, Gayle’s breakout single, “ABCDEFU,” took TikTok by storm. Radio airplay soon followed, and now Gayle—who is only 17—is preparing for her first headlining tour this Spring.
Best of all? The comment was a plant! The commenter who suggested Gayle write a song using the alphabet works in the marketing department of Gayle’s (major) record label. “ABCDEFU” was already in the works when she made the video, but the reality of the situation doesn’t change the excitement her approach to sharing music created.
Mashups are all the rage!
Mashups are created when two existing sounds are combined to create something new and—in many cases—surprisingly good. The latest evolution of this is found on TikTok, where working musicians are infusing their songs (and the songs of other artists) with funny or quotable sounds found in popular TikTok videos.
EXAMPLE: In November and December 2021, a video of people on Coney Island in New York yelling various phrases went viral on TikTok. The most quotable moment of this video came when a man yelled, “Bing Bong!” Since then, artists from all corners of the planet have inserted “Bing Bong” into their songs. Above, you can stream an example made using Kanye’s “Runaway.”
Honesty never goes out of style
You have a story to tell, and people will listen if you tell it well. You don’t need to have endured unfathomable horrors or overcome life-changing trauma to be someone whose journey matters. Your life and your vision are good enough. Be who you are meant to be, and as long as you are honest about your intentions, the world will accept you.
Recently, we fell in love with the video above. It features a young man fawning over his supportive girlfriend as he details her faith in his music. He then shares a new song, which he and his girlfriend dance to as the video ends. The cute clip resonated with viewers, who took the track to number one on the viral Spotify Top 50 chart in less than forty-eight hours.
The latest innovation from Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming platform, has some users scratching their heads.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then TikTok must be feeling pretty good right now. The vertical video sharing platform has inspired virtually every major digital platform to copy its popular discovery video feed. The most glaring knockoff is Instagram Reels, which are often clips that first appeared on TikTok, but similar features exist on YouTube, Snapchat, and even Netflix. Everyone wants a piece of vertical video, it seems, and that list now includes Spotify.
Spotify has confirmed it’s currently testing a new feature in its app, Discover. It presents a vertical feed of music videos that users can scroll through and optionally like or skip. For those who have access to the feature, it appears as a fourth tab in the navigation bar at the bottom of the Spotify app, between Home and Search.
The existence of the Discover feature was first spotted by Twitter user Chris Messina, who also shared photos and videos of the new offering.
Not only that, @Spotify Discover is basically a pared down version of a TikTok-style feed of vertical music videos (likely using their canvas format) that you can like or skip.#NewSpotifypic.twitter.com/hpOEZ8v9bl
Messina told TechCrunch he found the feature in Spotify’s TestFlight build (a beta version for iOS). A new icon in the navigation toolbar immediately brings you to the video feed when tapped. You can then swipe up and down to move through the feed like you would on TikTok. In addition to tapping the heart to like songs, you also can tap the three-dot menu to bring up the standard song information sheet, he notes.
First introduced in 2019, Canvas allows artists to add looping video clips to their music. The footage appears vertically while the song plays and can be up to 8 seconds in length. Spotify has claimed in the past that songs using Canvas have a higher engagement rate.
As a first step towards a complete embrace of video on its platform, Discover seems like a smart move for Spotify. By utilizing the existing database of Canvas clips to explore engagement opportunities and encourage more artists to add even more content to the platform, Spotify is poised to develop video features built with listener interest in mind faster than any of its competitors. The long-term plan remains unclear, but the company could eventually allow full-length videos and become something akin to a modern MTV — in addition to being the global leader in music streaming.
TechCrunch asked Spotify for further information on the feature, including whether it had plans to roll this out further, whether it was available on both iOS and Android, which markets had access to the feature, and more. The company declined to share any details about the feature but did confirm that it was exploring the idea of a vertical video feed via a statement.
“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience, and others serve only as an important learning. We don’t have any further news to share at this time,” they added.
