Such is the power of TikTok, posting a dance challenge on the video platform can potentially make or break a musician’s career.
The short video site has around a billion monthly users and with so many eyeballs on posts, the platform is a huge promotional space for musicians and bands.
Musician Kira Puru said the platform started for her as a creative outlet and playful space, but has now become an essential tool to promote her work.
“For me, the flavor has changed because it’s now more closely related to work,” Ms Puru said. The flow.
Independent musician Kira Puru uses Tiktok to create fun video content. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
“If you’re good at it, amazing things can happen to you, and as an independent artist you obviously want to be able to take those opportunities where you can,” she said.
Ms Puru said people in the music industry need to use all the tools at their disposal to help songs succeed.
“I realize how transformative TikTok and social media in general can be, so I want to be able to harness that energy and momentum if I can,” Ms Puru said.
But she also said the platform can engender a feeling of “soullessness” if often complex and “heavy” subject matter is condensed into a “bite-sized” clip.
Although TikTok can spread joy to the public through frivolous entertainment, other aspects of the site have drawn criticism.
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have faced heat from its algorithm, which can expose users to potentially risky content.
The video-sharing service also avoided backlash over privacy concerns .
The “number one” music discovery platform
It is clear that young people are spending a lot of time on TikTok consuming music content.
The Victorian Music Development Office, an initiative of the Victorian Government, reports that it has identified TikTok as the number one social media music discovery platform for the 16-34 age group.
This is based on the bureau’s forthcoming Consumer Insights study.
“We observed that two-thirds of viral hits from TikTok are triggered by organic content,” a statement from the bureau said.
For electronic act Shouse, non-profit group Music Victoria said social media trends likely helped the group enter the top 500 global artists on Spotify.
The Melbourne duo enjoyed wide-ranging success with their 2021 hit ‘Love Tonight’.
The track had over 300 million streams on Spotify, but that didn’t necessarily translate into Australian awards for the band.
The air was ineligible for Thursday night’s ARIAs [Australian Recording Industry Association awards] due to its release date, being originally from 2017 but later re-released.
The TikTok site promotes music sharing. Source: AAP
In the meantime, ARIA-nominated artist The Kid Laroi has 3.3 million followers on TikTok where he shows off his dance moves and stage antics.
Artist Kamilaroi won Best Artist and Best Pop Release at the 2021 ARIA Awards.
It is nominated this year for Song of the Year, Best Solo Artist, Best Hip-Hop & Rap Release, Best Australian Live Act and Best Pop Release for 2022.
The scale of the awards ceremony has been reduced for the past two years due to COVID-19 but will return to normal in Sydney on Thursday evening.
How Influencers Became Central to Music Marketing
Darren Distefano is Regional Account Director at Collab Asia, a digital content and marketing agency covering the Asia-Pacific region that helps connect brands with influencers.
“We’re actually one of the biggest creator networks on TikTok and we have very close relationships with record labels and performers,” he said. The flow.
“We connect brands and record labels with influencers in music, lifestyle and general entertainment.”
Darren Distefano covers the Asia-Pacific region in his marketing work. Source: Provided / Huw Lambert
Speaking from Singapore, he said his work falls under the marketing budget.
“Influencer marketing is pretty much a staple of a record label’s marketing budget now,” he said.
But Mr Distefano said it was up to music groups to convert subscribers into revenue.
“We find that audience, it’s now the job of the brand, even if it’s the record labels and the musicians, to convert them into real loyal customers,” he said.
“These algorithms change all the time, so you’re constantly creating in different ways and trying new ways to convert new ideas into energy and that energy into ticket sales, or Spotify spins or merch. [merchanise] sales,” she said.
Music campaigns with hashtags or dance challenges increase artists’ popularity on TikTok.
“Our YouTubers in Indonesia did a cover of Blackpink’s ‘How You Like That’, which garnered 10 million views in just 3 weeks and ranked #2 on the platform,” Mr. Distefano said. .
“The label contacted us and we collaborated with a dancing duo in the Philippines,” he said of another campaign around Dua Lipa’s single. Physical.
“This has actually been shared 11,000 times on TikTok.”
Equalize industry
Laura Glitsos is a musician and Senior Coordinator, Broadcasting and Digital Journalism at Edith Cowan University in Perth. She argued that TikTok is democratizing the music industry as part of its natural evolution.
“There are different ways to monetize content on TikTok,” Ms Glitsos said.
She explained that users can pay groups directly and content creators can earn money and kickbacks based on video views.
“You get kind of different accumulations of data that will tell TikTok whether to give you money or not,” she said.
Kira Puru appeared at the 2019 ARIA Awards in Sydney in 2019. Source: AAP / JOEL CARRETT/AAPIMAGE
And she said that pop music, capitalism and new technologies have always been linked.
And that branding, marketing, advertising and popular music have a long history together.
“It’s always been tangled up, so I think it would probably be unfair to suggest that TikTok somehow leveraged that in a different way,” she said.
Music Victoria said TikTok is changing the way art is consumed and is a big driver in how songs are discovered.
“While some artists are benefiting from these changes, we’ve also seen artists struggle with the platform,” said chief executive Simone Schinkel.
“Like all other music platforms, TikTok may not be for everyone, and that’s okay.”
“Artists should be encouraged to release and promote their music through the channels that feel most comfortable for them and their fans,” Ms. Schinkel said.
change creativity
Kira Puru presents an outdoor show in February 2020. Source: SBS
Both Mr Distefano and Ms Puru said the nature of TikTok meant artists curated their content for the platform.
“Song lengths are getting shorter and shorter, but you can tell they’re writing it on purpose for that 15-second riff on TikTok,” Distefano said.
Ms. Puru agreed that some fans only know a short snippet of a song and the crowd may react to these short musical moments during live shows.
“I’m not a marketing genius, I don’t work in marketing,” she said.
“I’m an artist and while I enjoy interacting with my fans on social media, I would much rather be the studio that writes the music.”
But Mr. Distefano said artists had to strike a balance between catering to the platform and their fans.
“The public knows if they’re being sold something.”
