25-year-old Bella Poarch quickly comes across as alien to anyone unfamiliar with TikTok. Her videos are simple: Make-up and styled, she moves her lips to songs like “Sophie Aspin Send” by Millie B. It got more than 50 million likes. Poarch is now a global star under contract to Warner Bros. Records. In 2021 she released her first album.
@bellapoarch To the ? ? ? #fyp ♬ M to the B – Millie B
The TikTok app now plays an enormously important role for music labels. “TikTok’s influence on the charts has been growing for a number of years and is becoming more and more evident. The most obvious example of this is Lil Nas X — he broke through thanks to a song on TikTok,” explained Chaz Jenkins in conversation with “Deutschlandfunk” – and means “Old Town Road”. It is part of the company Chart Metric, which analyzes the charts of streaming services.
Since “Old Town Road” the number of users on TikTok has skyrocketed. There are now around a billion users on the go – a young audience that music labels really want to reach. In an interview with ROLLING STONE, Sony Music Germany explains that they are on different levels.
Produce and reflect personality
On the one hand, as a label, one is involved in the structure of the profiles. In other words: an “image” should be created together with the artists. This is especially important online. The American rapper Jack Harlow, for example, managed to stage himself on TikTok with his videos as a cute rapper next door.
@missionaryjackWhen you told me to forget you I went crazy?♬ original sound – Ray
“It’s a bit like wrestling now,” Talya Elitzer explained. She is co-founder of “godmode” – a label that supports artists such as the US rapper jpegmafia, among other things, in the online presentation. On TikTok, an artist’s image must be clear before they open their mouths. “They must have a story that explains who they are.”
Anything can become popular on TikTok
Planning a TikTok hit is difficult. Sony Music is in lively exchange with the TikTok music team, but what is ultimately successful depends on the users. A hit or rock hit is also possible on the website.
That’s what makes TikTok so exciting for people like Talya Elitzer. “Anything can work on TikTok,” she explained. From low-fi rock to sea shanties, every trend has been on the platform. When something becomes popular, it feels to her “like you’ve won the lottery.”
@thetrills Reply to @amoo4488 You asked for a sea shanty… and the boys delivered! ??☠️ #seashanty #acapella #wellerman #fyp #theboys ♬ The Trills Wellerman – The Trills
Artist criticism
American pop singer Halsey, meanwhile, found no positive words for the relationship between music labels and TikTok. So the 27-year-old grabbed her cell phone and spoke up. “There’s a song I want to release as soon as possible, but my label won’t let me.” The label wouldn’t release the song until a viral moment is “faked” on TikTok.
@halseyI’m tired♬ original sound – Halsey
In the meantime, however, Halsey was able to come to an agreement with her label and released the song “So Good”. Quite regularly, without any staged hype. She also took back the criticism. “Capitol Records just told me to post TikToks, but not about what,” she explained.
dangers of the app
TikTok was created in Beijing in 2016 and by the following year already had 100 million users. With success came criticism. The app was accused of not offering enough youth and data protection for the young target group. But neither security concerns nor accusations of censorship were able to curb the success. In October 2020, TikTok had more than 2 billion downloads.
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