Are you ready for some harsh truths? TikTok is single-handedly changing the music industry. There, we said it.
We spoke about TikTok changing the music industry on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
If you were to hop onto Twitter this morning you would have seen that Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat and Beyoncé were all trending at the same time. This is because Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’ was treated to a remix that featured Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion’s song ‘Savage’ was treated to a remix with Beyoncé (the latter collab, raising money for disaster relief organisation Bread of Life).
While it is interesting that Beyonce and Nicki Minaj, two of the most successful female musicians of all time, are hopping on songs with lesser-known artists, this is all but unexpected. Quite simply, TikTok has completely changed the music industry. Allow us to explain.
Musicians have always adapted to the ways in which people consume music. From being album-focussed to being single-focussed, musicians change the ways they release music to fit what is currently relevant. More recently, with the rise in streaming services, we’ve seen a noticeable shift to shorter songs that are fronted with hooks, because that gets stars the artists’ streams.
But now, TikTok has come into the game and changed it all. As TikTok dances are all the craze right now, boppy songs with catchy dances are subsequently doing significantly well on streaming services. While Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” were both huge songs initially, their continued success is definitely owed to the viral TikTok dances.
Some people have even launched their careers on TikTok. BENEE, a 20-year-old from New Zealand has skyrocketed to household-name success because two of her songs have been given the TikTok treatment, ‘Supalonely’ and ‘Glitter’.
We’ve even seen some artists release their songs onto TikTok before other streaming platforms, like Drake’s ‘Toosie Slide,’ which given the lyrics of “right foot slide, left foot slide”, is geared to become a viral TikTok sensation.
Thus, it’s no wonder that Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé want a piece of the TikTok success. Get ready to see a whole lot more dancy tunes hitting your radio this winter, because TikTok dances are here to stay.
For more on TikTok music, make sure you check out our list for the best songs to come out of TikTok.
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