The importance of TikTok for independent musicians is rapidly growing. The app has exploded and the consumption of content on the platform reaches new heights every day. TikTok has over 800 monthly active users that spend nearly an hour on the platform consuming content a day. The app itself has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times! What does this mean for independent musicians? Unprecedented scalability to reach millions of new people with their music every day.
The design and organic reach of TikTok gives anyone the ability to create an account tomorrow, go viral, and reach over a million people. TikTok for independent musicians, artists and beatmakers is an absolute must. TikTok creators also leverage music that is distributed to the platform. And this is a common practice. You’ll commonly see TikTok influencers making dance or lip sync videos to trending music. And if a TikTok influencer makes a video with your music, there will likely be a lot of other creators who follow. And if your music is used in a viral video, this can be a nice revenue stream for you.
The greatest TikTok success story comes from Lil Nas X. The Atlanta native and college dropout first started promoting his country-trap song “Old Town Road” through memes on Twitter and Instagram. It really got its push when it broke out on TikTok though. Creators used it in their dance, lip sync, and comedy videos to highlight the increased trend on cowboy and cowgirl culture.
Top Platforms to Get Music on TikTok
Getting your music onto streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music is one thing. Finding a digital distribution platform that also can place your music on leading social networks like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for monetization is also becoming increasingly important. These are the top platforms to get music on TikTok.
TikTok For Independent Musicians Tips
It doesn’t take much for independent musicians to get started on TikTok, but there are some tactical tips that can give you an edge. If you’re new to the platform entirely, it makes a lot of sense to consume content and see what is working. It’s also important to know what was successful on YouTube or Instagram might not map into direct success on TikTok. Context is king. Here are some tips for success on TikTok.
- Search for hashtags that are contextual to the content you’ll be creating. Who are the influencers in these spaces?
- See what hashtags are trending and watch some successful videos using them. A key factor to success on TikTok is being an early adopter of trends.
- Create content using trending and new filters/effects. It’s important to make with the assets available on the platform.
- Create content contextual to the platform. TikTok videos use the 9:16 aspect ratio. Don’t create a widescreen video for YouTube and just upload it to TikTok.
- Be authentic. If you want to build a lasting fan base and following, it’s important to stay true to yourself. You can’t scale something that isn’t real and it’ll be extremely hard to monetize later anyway.
- Get social. TikTok is a social network. Like videos and leave engaging comments on content that is interesting to you. Respond to people that leave comments on your content.
- Have fun. Create content that is valuable to the audience using the platform. People turn to TikTok for a few minutes here and there to escape their day to day. TikTok also skews to a younger demographic. 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z’ers.
The importance of TikTok for independent musicians will continue to grow. It’s time to get on the platform and join the growing community of creators.
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