Is TikTok a force for good in music culture?
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Credit: Far Out / Glass Animals / Flickr Eyestetix Studio / Greyson Joralemon
Can TikTok revive an entire music career?
TikTok, a video-driven social networking service that has seemingly dominated the world of social media, is currently dominating the music charts, flexing its muscles in a world that was never previously on their radar. Given its power, TikTok has emerged as a primary optic of focus for all those working with the music industry, pounds signs swirling in their eyes at a potential new revenue opportunity. But does the technology go further than just money? Does TikTok have the capacity to revive an entire career?
Oxfordshire indie-pop group Glass Animals are currently at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their track ‘Heat Waves’. Remarkably, it was released almost two years ago, but thanks to Tik-Tok, the band are enjoying a level of success that, in truth, they probably never thought was possible.
Despite releasing their debut album in 2014, Glass Animals have found themselves nominated for ‘Best New Artist’ at the Grammy Awards in 2022 and are taking pleasure in riding this unexpected wave. Commenting on the track finally hitting the top spot, Bayley told Billboard: “I think people do like a bit of familiarity when there’s a bit of like, discomfort in the world. And I think maybe with [‘Heat Waves’] — the song is about nostalgia and the past, and remembering people and missing people. And I think through the last couple years, and still now, people have been missing their loved ones”.
Glass Animals were already on an upward trajectory, and their success isn’t entirely down to the TikTok book. While there’s no doubt that ‘Heat Waves’ would still boast millions of streams on Spotify if it wasn’t for Tik-Tok, now they’re losing count as it snowballs into billions.
Meanwhile, the app also managed to get people talking about songs we’d previously let escape to the back of our minds. In 2008, there wasn’t anything more insufferable than The Ting Tings song ‘That’s Not My Name’, and this year, the track had enjoyed a second life on Tik-Tok, with everyone from The Rock to Will Smith filming themselves lip-syncing to the indie hit.
While this has introduced the material to a brand-new audience, it remains to be seen whether it will translate to album sales or a legion of new fans coming out to watch their next tour. “We’re [not good] at social media,” Katie White from the group recently told Variety. “I learned it was happening from my family. I didn’t think TikTok was really for us but now we will probably use it for our next album”.
Her bandmate, Jules De Martino, added: “We’re thrilled, It’s amazing to see people interact with our song.”
However, in the case of The Ting Tings, it appears as though the lyrics leant themselves perfectly to a trend on the medium, which will lead to a short-term bump in royalties from streaming platforms, but not much more.
The Ting Tings weren’t the first act to become an accidental benefactor of the social media app. In 2020, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ re-entered the charts thanks to a viral video from Dogg Face skateboarding in Los Angeles while listening to the classic track.
The clip has been viewed well over 84 million times and provided bundles of joy during the dreaded pandemic, which Stevie Nicks claiming the situation had “blown my mind”. Additionally, streams of the track went up by more than 100% on Spotify in the wake of the video going viral. However, Fleetwood Mac weren’t a flailing group that needed a second bite of the apple.
Searching elsewhere for the second coming of viral sensations, Marina is another artist who reaps the rewards of Tik-Tok when her 2012 track, ‘Primadonna’, got a second lease of life on the platform, and she’s managed to build a significant following on the app with her videos regularly getting millions of views.
Despite last year’s Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land being the least commercially successful effort of her career, by some distance, the Welsh singer has managed to engage a new fanbase and made sure her chips didn’t stay down for too long. Furthermore, Marina will be playing an array of festivals in the summer and headlining London’s O2 Brixton Academy as part of her UK tour.
Overall, Tik-Tok can play a part in revitalising a career, but a track going viral isn’t enough to make an act relevant again for the first time in a decade. It’s a necessary tool all musicians should be active on in 2022, with Marina a prime example of how to expertly use the app to cultivate a Gen-Z audience. Still, there’s no guarantee it’s a recipe for long-term success for everybody, even if millions have lip-synced to your song.
Just like in the pre-social media age, building an invested following is the only thing that truly matters, and going viral is simply the modern-day version of 15 minutes of fame. While Tik-Tok can undoubtedly be used to sustain a career revival, there’ll always be another trend just around the corner, and short-term virality counts for nothing next week.
