For You Page: The New Wave of Music Promotion
By Isabella Kooch
Music is constantly evolving, and one of the hardest things for young artists to grasp is publicity. TikTok has become one of the biggest social media platforms in 2022, and artists trying to gain recognition have utilized this accessible app to its fullest potential. Because of the simplicity of posting, smaller musicians see Tik Tok as a clear shot to get their music out to the masses. Due to the record numbers of views and followers, artists can promote their music on an entirely new platform that many find easier to follow than Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify. The videos are broadcast not only to the profiles’ followers but also to any user on the app.
Allen Haley (he/him), a 22-year-old musician, admits his monthly listeners skyrocketed after promoting his work on TikTok.
“When I would post on already established platforms, like Instagram, the only people who could see the shit I was putting out were the people already following me,” Haley says. This restricted him from gaining any new supporters. “But with Tik Tok, I could make a platform where I was posting for people outside my following range, and the video will go to 10 new eyeballs.”
This situation has become a common occurrence for many artists when trying to increase listenership on social media, specifically TikTok. Haley mentioned the ability to create a brand for yourself; by doing so, artists’ ability to stay consistent with their work becomes easier to tackle. Haley recently hit almost 1.5 million streams on his new single, “Taken Back,” which he constantly promotes on Tik Tok.
Hotel Ugly, a dynamic duo band from Texas, used TikTok to promote their song “Shut up My Moms Calling,” which now has over 30 million streams on Spotify. The video consists of the brothers, Mike (he/him) and Chris (he/him), showing their father their new single. The brothers had personal Instagrams for friends and family, and Mike had a smaller production account.
“We probably had 1,000 followers at the time and had no idea where we were planning on going with our music,” Mike says. After posting their viral video, they established an excitement around Tik Tok promotion. However, they started to become weary of this specific type of promotion after developing relationships within the music industry. “There is a very fine line between becoming a TikTok artist and becoming serious musicians, rather than being a TikTok goofball,” Chris says, which can be one of the issues within the app.
One crucial aspect of TikTok is using sounds made by other users on the app, which has become a key element in music promotion. Rachel Chinouriri (she/her) posted a video to her single “So My Darling,” where she shared a raw, acoustic version and amassed 5 million views.
“You know, ‘Remember, I’ll always love you,’ that was crazy. It was just before Christmas, and I honestly couldn’t believe it… That’s one of my first songs I wrote completely alone, and it’s the one that resonated the most with people,” Chinouriri says.
The audio created from her post now holds around 175,000 videos of other TikTok users making content to her song. “I started just asking people to listen to my music and got half a million views, so I thought, ‘Wow, this is easy,'” Chinouriri says, and she now has nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Tons of artists have yet to find their big break but continue to utilize the app to its fullest potential. Taj Dharmadji (she/her), an Emerson freshman from Jakarta, Indonesia, has gained some traction on the popular app but continues to find the best ways for her own music promotion. In 2018, she wrote and produced her first EP called “Trial Run” and released it on her own through the streaming service DistroKid to get her work out in public. Unlike most smaller musicians on the app, Dharmadji has had the opportunity to work with Sony Music for promotion, development, and production.
“I knew I wanted to get into a real studio and work with producers and people that actually know what they’re doing,” she says. Although she turned for additional help, she has taken it upon herself to use her TikTok profile for traction. “Since TikTok is such a huge platform these days, it was just a great way to get more attention to my music and more of a personal side to the artist making the music,” which seems to be a common theme for most musicians on the app.
These artists advise smaller musicians trying to gain publicity to be confident, let things happen, be passionate about their work and try their best. Chinouriri brings reassurance to artists attempting to broaden their listenership.
“Have no fear. I have embarrassed myself so many times and had videos with barely any views to get my music out there, but there is nothing to lose,” Chinouriri says. “Numbers do not equal the standard of your work. Your people who get you will find you, but make sure you’re available to be seen.”
“TikTok can enhance the chances you have to be seen, which is amazing, no matter what kind of art you’re producing,” Hotel Ugly’s Chris acknowledges. The potential Tik Tok holds inspires many musicians and artists worldwide to get their work out there in hopes of others’ enjoyment.