How to work your music on TikTok

July 15, 2022

by Gerardo

Today, users discover and consume music first on Tik Tok than on streaming platforms. The influence Tik Tok has today on the music we listen to would´ve been inimaginable years before. People love to watch those short and funny videos, and in the meantime discover some cool songs to add to their favorite personal playlist. The main objective of every modern artist should be to be constantly featured on those funny short videos.

It’s the art of repetition that makes a song popular on the platform. Artists that understand this phenomenon are creating videos on Tik Tok including their songs again and again. The more you watch videos that include the same song, the more it sticks into your head until you end up using it for a video of your own, or looking for the entire song on music platforms. This phenomenon has given artists the chance of reaching a bigger audience just by a single catchy and repetitive tune.

The power of TikTok

In this sense, Tik Tok is a great platform for unknown, aspiring musicians and songwriters, as even if they don’t have a 100 followers their posts can go viral if ingredients like creativity, novelty, humor and friends that share your content end up aligning perfectly. If they come up nicely, the exposure your project can gain has no foreseeable limits.

It’s not only about the content but about seeing the opportunities out there. There’s no need anymore for over-thought, overproduced videos, it’s about keeping it simple and having a clear call to action. There’s no right formula, each artist is different and what works for some may not work for others. What’s important is to have an authentic idea and to work it out, bearing in mind that what makes perfection in the platform it’s the stickiness, spreadability and repeatability of your content.

With this scenario in mind, let’s take a look at specific tips that can help you work your music on Tik Tok.

Using your song / Audio several times

For something to stick into your mind it needs to be brought up to your attention several times. Content that goes viral wasn’t shared only once between one creator and the audience. Virality comes from a constant flow of that idea until it becomes bidirectional.

Ask your friends to use your audio

Don’t be shy. Your friends are your most powerful tool to become known by a wider audience. This may sound obvious, but when your friends share your content or create their own featuring your song or trend, it opens up to a wider audience that’s still close to you. You don’t know every friend of your friends, and neither you know if some of them may be influencers that will boost your career.

Create a trend / Challenge (No, it doesn´t have to be a dance)

TikTok got famous because of these trends of adolescents dancing and being free, but that’s no longer the main attraction of the platform. The kind of content being created there has widened and become its own form of media. Dynamic, short and powerful videos that attract every kind of audience. That’s why the trend/challenge that you conceive featuring your song doesn’t have to be a dance. It can be some kind of meme, an idea, or a soundtrack for people to tell their experiences on a matter. Don’t be ashamed to make your own goofy content for people to laugh at, the power of memes is ungraspable and you need to try to make it yours. Those are the kind of videos that people want to replicate with their own style, and that’s your end objective.

Adding lyrics to your videos

Lyrics are really important for your videos. People may attach to a catchy tune, but a powerful lyric, a phrase, can stick to your head harder than any kind of chewing gum. Music conveys feelings in melody and words, and the great thing about the last one is the multiple interpretations that can be given by the audience. Those lyrics can become a meme or so kind of trend you wouldn’t even think of.