With 500 million active TikTok users, the platform is now an integral part of the music marketing landscape. Independent artists can use their TikTok profile to promote their music and grow their fanbase, and they don’t necessarily need followers to do so.

Here is a complete guide on how to promote music on TikTok. We’ll break down the mechanics of the aoo and present strategies for how to get your music heard by as many people as possible.

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1. What is TikTok?

To say that TikTok is just a platform for sharing short videos would be an oversimplification. The short video format in itself is nothing new. It can be found on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube. TikTok wasn’t even the first platform to put the format forward, Vine did it 7 years ago. So what makes TikTok so different from these other social media platforms?

To answer this question, we must circle back to the history of the platform. TikTok was first launched as an international version of Douyin, an application by ByteDance (a Chinese startup), in September 2017. Douyin is the equivalent of TikTok in the Chinese market, a country with its own regulations regarding tech and social media policy.

In 2017, Douyin was by far the fastest growing application in China thanks to an algorithm that made it possible to hyper-personalize content to users, fed by their behavior on the platform. This algorithm was been the main reason for the app’s success, and it’s the same one that makes TikTok so successful today.

Because Douyin was getting so much traction in China, ByteDance decided to expand abroad. TikTok launched in September 2017, but the app’s first year in the international market was pretty quiet. It hadn’t gotten the initial popularity necessary to become a top tier social media platform just yet.

In August 2018, ByteDance merged Musical.ly (another short video maker app) and TikTok, dumping its 100 million active users into the video sharing app, and that’s when things really skyrocketed. In just a few months, TikTok’s active audience grew to over 150 million users. A few weeks later, a little-known indie rapper from Atlanta uploaded an eccentric song on the app, and it blew up. The song went on to break the Billboard record for longest #1 song on the Hot-100 chart. This was of course Lil Nas X’s single “Old Town Road”.

The music industry quickly noticed what TikTok was capable of and immediately began incorporating it into artist marketing strategies.

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2. Why is TikTok spoken about so much?

What makes TikTok special? Let’s start with this little statistic: in May of 2024, TikTok hit 1.04 billion active monthly users. That’s over a quarter of the total number of worldwide users of social media in general – that’s insane. On TikTok, everyone is an audience and everyone is a creator; that is the key to TikTok’s success.

TikTok has built a feed designed to host all the videos created by its users, and you only have to perform one main action: scroll from one video to another. That’s all.. but it wouldn’t work without its recommendation system. TikTok was one of the first applications to rely entirely on AI to deliver content to the user, even though the user can watch content from creators they follow. In reality, users have little power over the content they consume, it all depends on the algorithm that gets to know them over time on the platform.

3. How does TikTok’s algorithm work ?

When it comes to the enormous volume of user-generated content uploaded to the app every day, the TikTok algorithm is built so that every video has a chance at virality:

“Although a video is likely to be viewed more if it is posted by an account that has many followers (…) neither the number of followers nor the fact that the account has previously had high performing videos are direct factors in the recommendation system.”

The primary goal of TikTok’s recommendation engine is to make content appear interesting regardless of the creator’s initial audience. This approach allows TikTok to take a video uploaded by a user who does not have a huge following and distribute it to thousands, even millions of users. Thus, every creator has the same opportunity as the next for their video to be seen by a huge number of people. This is a game changer for the music business, small record labels and the independent artist that wants to be given a fair chance.

Say a video is posted by a big influencer who is lip-syncing or dancing to a song. Millions of people see it, and about 1% of them will decide to make their own version. These videos will then be viewed by thousands if not hundreds of thousands of users, the cycle will repeat itself, and we will have witnessed the birth of a new TikTok trend. More often than not, a song is attached to it, which is where it gets interesting for music marketing tactics.

However, not all songs go viral, and not all viral challenges are dances. As well, TikTok’s algorithm itself isn’t everything. There are themes to each video, which correspond to the user’s interest profiles. TikTok, like YouTube, is a multi-faceted platform where you kind find content categories such as beauty, dance, comedy, politics, financial advice, and a plethora of incredibly niche interests.

4. How to increase your number of followers and profile views

First and foremost, you need to create and develop an Artist Profile to expand the overall reach of your music, just like you would on Instagram or Facebook. But before you decide to commit to the platform as a creator, you should figure out what kind of TikTok content you’ll be making to match your overall artistic aesthetic.

You need to find a way to showcase your work in the videos you create, while making sure that they always match up with the spirit of your music, within the preferred formats of the platform. With so much music online nowadays, it’s hard to stand out. Simply posting clips of your upcoming tracks or BTS footage in the studio won’t be enough. When creating your own videos on TikTok, you need to remember how the algorithm works and lean into it until you’ve narrowed in on the types of videos that work best for you. If you want to maximize your chances of going viral, here are some top tips to follow:

Choose a universe/theme that suits you

The most important thing to do when developing your Artist Tiktok account is to choose a theme around which you will center your content that is related to your music career. Alvin Chris, a rapper and avid user of Groover, decided to post 10-second freestyles consistently for several weeks. One of his freestyles got lots of attention, and was covered over 6,000 times.

Choosing a type of content that is specific to you will allow the algorithm to better associate you to a certain category of content on the platform, and to connect you with people who appreciate this type of content. Unlike Instagram or Youtube where music promotion is relatively straightforward, artists need to get creative on TikTok to break through the noise.

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Use hashtags

Hashtags are probably the most important method of attaching a video to a type of content. If you choose popular hashtags, it will increase the chances that your video will appear in TikTok’s “Discover” and “For You” tabs. Using relevant can get your songs to appear on the feed of people who browse these categories often, allowing you to connect with bloggers, major labels, and submit music to influencers. 

Follow the trends and take part in the challenges

If a new challenge appears on the platform, TikTok users will be more inclined to take interest – and the algorithm knows it. So if you see notice a budding trend and have an idea for a cool video to partake, feel free to create and share it. Don’t forget the hashtags either! There must be one attached to the trend. No matter how popular your TikTok account is, the impact of one of your songs becoming the soundtrack of a popular TikTok trend or challenge cannot be understated.

Showcase your music on the platform

Since you are using TikTok as a channel to promote your music, it is essential to understand strategies for successful TikTok music promotion. To effectively showcase your music on TikTok, make sure that all of your active fans on the platform are aware of what you are doing outside of the platform. You don’t have to be too blunt – TikTok is not a place for “new single available on all streaming platforms” announcements. However, if you are producing original TikTok content, you have every reason to use your own songs as soundtracks.

Use TikTok Pro Analytics

Use the free TikTok analytics dashboard, available to all content creators on the platform, to understand your viewers better. With TikTok Pro, you can track your follower count, video views, specific audience demographics, and get data on what type of content is working best for you. To switch to a Pro account, simply go to the “Manage my account” tab, and click “Switch to TikTok Pro”.

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Make sure you are not excluded

TikTok blocks spam, offensive or harmful content. If the platform finds any of the following, it can ban the account:

• Use of prohibited hashtags
• Delete a large volume of content in one go
• Short-term subscribing and unsubscribing of users
• Use of copyrighted content

The easiest of these rules to accidentally infringe upon is the copyrighted content, but that won’t be a problem if you’re using your own music 😉

5. How do you get your music trending

Even if standing out from the crowd in TikTok challenges becomes more complicated every day, the principle to achieve it always remains the same. It just takes a good idea, a catchy song – or rather, a catchy moment – and a few well-chosen influencers to get the ball rolling- think of it as an influencer campaign. But let’s take it one step at a time. Here’s our guide to starting a TikTok challenge.

Spend time on TikTok

First of all, we must remember the following point: TikTok is a unique platform, with very unique content. So if you are considering integrating the platform into your marketing strategy, the best advice we can give is to go spend some time on the platform yourself. Try to understand what content is popular and why. Look through comments to understands whether the biggest element audiences latch onto in a viral video is humor, a relatable moment, an emotional sentiment etc., and see what aligns with you and your image. When you’re ready, you’ll be better prepared to fabricate a unique and potentially viral moment yourself.

Check that your song is well distributed on TikTok

It’s a simple step, but still worth noting. Though most do, not all digital distributors work with TikTok – so before your single or album release, verify that your distributor (this includes indie music services like CD Baby and Tunecore) will distribute your music to TikTok and make it available for public use.

Find your 15 second snippet

When it comes to TikTok trends, 15-second snippets are the most effective. It’s not a requirement per se, but short-form content really does sit at the heart of the platform. So study your music and try to spot a 15-second “TikTok worthy” moment – the part of the song that you think will have the most potential to grab attention fast and/or make for a viral trend.

There are a lot of elements in songs that lend themselves well to TikTok (well-placed lyrics, a danceable beat, a cinematic-sounding moment). Your clip should relate to the theme of the future challenge, whether it’s the lyrics or the dynamics of the music itself, but it should be versatile enough to leave room for interpretation. You never know how someone will personally interpret your snippet and create a video surrounding it, and that’s often how trends are born. They can be very unexpected.

You can test out your snippets by posting a number of options to your page and seeing what sticks. Use your analytics tools to figure out what worked best with what audience, and you’ll quickly understand what clip will make the most sense to use again in future videos.

Find a standout hashtag

Each trend should have a relevant hashtag so that people can identify it. Choose a clear and obvious hashtag that people can look up to find your video. It should be directly related to what’s happening in the challenge and easy to remember.If all goes well, the hashtag will be associated with your music for a long time! Hashtags can make all the difference.

Choose your target audience

If you’ve been releasing music on streaming platforms and are active on social media platforms, chances are you have a pretty good idea of who your main audience is regarding age and location. Though your viewer data and listener data may differ slightly, you still want to be aiming to reach similar audiences to those who already listen to your music, as they are the most likely to use and push your music on TikTok.

Try to find a healthy combination of your audience demographics for both streaming and social media and direct your content towards them. Who knows – you may even reach a pocket of listeners on TikTok that you never knew you’d have.

Identify the influencers who will help you reach your target audience

The next step is to find TikTok influencers who have a good affinity with your audience and contact them. Reaching out to influencers is also a great way to test your idea for a trend – the more creators respond to your proposal, the more likely it is to go viral.

Don’t be afraid to ask influencers what they think about your idea. TikTok influencers will have a lot of experience with the platform and are constantly analyzing what works and what doesn’t, so their feedback is valuable. They may give you great tips on how to market your music in a creative way and reach out new audiences.

TikTok ads are also an effective way to reach a broader audience and connect with TikTok creators/influencers. If you have the means, push the most viewed video of yours through TikTok ads, or ask influencers to make a video with your song in exchange for something. Though organic growth is better, targeted ads can sometimes do the trick!

Think about how to direct your listeners

This is arguably the most important step in the whole process.

Think about how you’re going to convert your TikTok audience to Spotify listeners or Instagram followers, and keep them around. Ultimately, viral marketing is a great tool for raising awareness, but it’s not suited to building a loyal fan base. Ideally, your TikTok campaign should be part of an overall content plan that will have a lasting impact on your artist career. How can you use TikTok to make money, sell your music, get radio airplay, and maybe even gigs and touring opportunities? Think about it as one of the many ways to promote your project and connect with professionals in the music industry.

The most important tool available to artists here is the song page attached to every song officially distributed on TikTok. The song page includes the streaming link to Apple Music and/or Spotify, which prompts users to access the full song with a click. More importantly, it has a link to an artist’s official TikTok account, which comes in handy when new audiences are discovering music through trends. It may therefore be wise to ensure that you have a verified account, which will serve as a conversion point between TikTok and other platforms.

Launch the challenge

This last step is pretty self-explanatory. After following all of our previous tips, it’s time to get started. At best, your challenge is a success, and millions of people are now streaming your music. But beware, the viral nature of TikTok also means trends come and go, so the window of opportunity to convert all of this awareness into something meaningful and lasting will be quite short. Take advantage while you can and be prepared for it!

Invite your loved ones to light the fuse

After you have launched the challenge yourself, ask your friends and family to participate! A good ten videos can easily start a trend.

6. Some examples of popular TikTok videos from emerging artists

@noguidnce if i ever fall in love 🖤 #rnb #90s #viral #noguidnce #stitch #originalmusiciscoming ♬ original sound – NO GUIDNCE

@alisongoldfrapp I have arrived! 🖤🪩🖤 Make sure you’re following me to see more #altmusic #electronicmusic #goldfrapp ♬ Ooh La La – Goldfrapp

@hialfiejukes This one deserved a shirt and tie #fyp #singer #cover #BRITs #the1975 ♬ presave link in bio – Alfie Jukes

@hialfiejukes This one deserved a shirt and tie #fyp #singer #cover #BRITs #the1975 ♬ presave link in bio – Alfie Jukes

@onlythepoetsuk

Low income tickets, free tickets and tour pre-sale info all in bio. Thank you ❤️

♬ original sound – onlythepoetsuk

@conor_albert

thank u mum for recording 🙂 I was so happy

♬ Tell Me – Conor Albert

@jaxjones You guys seem to like the studio content so thought i’d share more. A little insight into ‘you don’t know me’ – the song that turned my life upside down. Special mentions go to @raye who is showing the world how gifted she is right now. go check out her album 21st Century Blues – we applaud 👏 #electronicmusic #inthestudio #jaxjonesraye ♬ You Don’t Know Me – Jax Jones & RAYE

7. Submit your tracks to TikTok influencers on Groover

Submit music to influencers directly on Groover to get heard on TikTok!

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| Check out : VOG gets his music on a TikTok playlist after using Groover

– Translated by Betty Gonzalez Gray –

If you want to get your music into playlists and boost your visibility, check out Groover!