It’s no question, over the last five years TikTok has had tremendous influence over everything from fashion to local business to the music industry. The app, with it’s short-form content and highly advanced algorithm, worked to launch the careers of many small and independent artists through trending sounds. With TikTok set to go dark this Sunday, the music industry may never be the same.
Olivia Rodrigo, Benson Boone, and Lil Nas X are just some of the biggest stars to hit it big after short snippets of their music went viral on TikTok. Though Rodrigo was already a Disney Channel star, in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, her new release “Driver’s License,” took the app by storm with users lip synching to the new hit. Even before the pandemic TikTok boom, Lil Nas X rose to fame when his song “Old Town Road” became one of the first trending sounds users flocked to on the app, and relative unknown, Benson Boone, skyrocketed to one of the most streamed artists in 2024 after his songs “Beautiful Things” and “Cry” became trends on all sides of the algorithm.
Without TikTok, many small indie artists with dreams of making it big are scrambling to find a new platform to promote their work. Unfortunately, Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram don’t have the same algorithm push to highlight unknown artists and tend to favor those with high like and follower counts, which could lead established musicians to continue to thrive while those without industry connections and a solid fan base to flounder.
Due to TikTok’s short form content, songs with a few catchy bars tend to catch the algorithm’s attention. This has led many artists to prioritize small catchy tidbits, leading to an epidemic of bad songs with only one catchy verse. Artists have also moved toward creating shorter songs in order to play to the app’s preferences. With a move away from TikTok, music fans can expect to hear songs that emphasize overall cohesiveness instead of ear-catching riffs, and longer melodies more akin to traditional radio hits.
TikTok has also created a space for older songs to find rebirth with younger generations. Aly and AJ’s 2007 song “Potential Breakup Song” became so popular on the app the sister-duo returned from retirement to re-record a highly anticipated explicit version over a decade after its initial release. Other songs like Ke$ha’s 2010 “Cannibal” and Nicki Minaj’s 2009 “Boss Ass Bitch” trended in the form of dance trends, giving the songs new life and even new chances to appear on the radio once again. With the end of TikTok comes an end of a musical cultural era where anything could spark gold on the app – old songs, indie artists, even sounds from bygone children’s programs like The Backyardigans. TikTok will be missed by millions of Americans, but its influence on the music industry will never be forgotten.
