We tracked what happens after TikTok songs go viral

[@Vox]

For more from our friends at The Pudding, check them out at: pudding.cool/ They make data fun and accessible, providing longform and interactive data journalism pieces spanning topics from Ali Wong to Air Jordans.

[@Vox]

If I've learned anything from this project, it's that record deals are very complicated. In the video, we did our best to simplify the main components of how they work, but the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of components! Too many, in fact. If you want to dig into all of them, here's a great record deal simulator that's worth your while. dealsim.createos.app/ -Estelle

[@hermeslein6614]

China is the new alpha the world is laughing at America

[@red1004]

Cool

[@soumyadeepkundu6025]

Hi. Loved the video! Anyway we can get our hands on the dataset?

[@mikeyforrester6887]

You didn't actually name one famous viral track in this whole piece.

[@nituldeshptha99]

"I'm their worst nightmare really because I'm older than, ya know, 19" Tells you everything you need to know about how these companies exploit young talent

[@JupiterKnight]

sus

[@hermeslein6614]

You just mad that an Chinse company is dominating and destrying western apps

[@tehseenarab2252]

You should tell rather to make a video on India

[@MrGlotzTV]

Agree! I see record labels as rent seekers that offer little to nothing for a huge cut. Great to see that many artists are starting to see it in the same way. With today's viral marketing and connection on social media these companies are becoming irrelevant fast.

[@Skemmm]

Thus being independent is the best even if hard

[@audreyyyhappened6831]

Vox has seriously gotten me really into journalism.

[@bellecwy]

no fr 😭

[@mohamedshamekh3162]

not all of their videos are amazing but this is one of their best ones to be honest

[@scottiejerwinabejuela4973]

Same

[@Yeporoonie2]

Look up annual pay 😎

[@o_sch]

@@Yeporoonie2 how to ruin their dream in one step Just become a programmer or something you get 6 figures pretty easily if youre good at it

[@omi_cha]

I appreciate the optimism this video shares about the power of DIY artists, but that question of “is music just content now?” wasn’t dug into deep enough. Posting 3-5 times A DAY to maintain engagement + being the video editor/graphic/designer etc on TOP of being a songwriter, music producer, and mix engineer for the content you create…I mean, this kind of constant churning of output & productivity is draining on a human level. It is unsustainable. The real win is when artists are able to maintain longevity in their artistry without compromising this humanity.

[@lillysummeroriginals1213]

Hey there I just wanted to say I couldn’t agree more. I absolutely love and agree with everything you said and unfortunately it’s very sad. Hopefully eventually there will be a way around it and to get that perfect scenario. At least for now that we are spreading the word and hopefully that will help.😀

[@igorzemlianyn]

I absolutely agree

[@leoquinn04]

I could not agree more. I was also surprised they didn't really explore the idea of artists being in competition with each other. Obviously music is an industry, and there's only so many listener minutes up for grabs in a given day, but approaching artistic creation through a competitive framework will always be somewhat perverse to me. I fear that constantly playing the numbers game is only going to lead to more pressure on artists and less good music overall. The best music comes from organic inspiration, not deadlines from labels.

[@hvnterly8388]

I feel like I didn’t learn anything new from this, that I didn’t already know.

[@aceman0000099]

Surely if you are even mildly successful, you can afford to have some help with video making, even just one person extra would cut your workload in half

[@cherie..cherry]

I always feel bad for some artists who end up being “one hit wonders” because a sound of theirs went viral. I can’t imagine how degrading it is to one day have a song/video with 1Million streams, to go back to getting barely anything. Especially young people who think it’s a fault of theirs rather than a trend or algorithm.

[@oozly9291]

Happened then, happens now. Popular songs before the internet were one hit wonders too, unfortunate but the reality of fierce competition

[@Noise_floorxx]

Some people live pretty decent lives with the money from their one hit wonder.

[@whistlingbanshee5038]

@@Noise_floorxx I wonder how Gotye is these days....

[@MynameisBrianZX]

Consumers don’t have to be loyal to a brand. This is why famous artists go to such great lengths to form an identity and a dedicated fanbase, even delving into less-ethical territory like parasocial relationships.

[@yxwns]

​@@whistlingbanshee5038 the dude behind gotye is still producing music in a band to this day in the band "the basics"

[@SongL204]

With the amount of research done for this, why isn't this published in some academic journal? This is just so good.

[@analusilvaj]

Right? It's almost like a thesis, with the methodology and the interviews... Amazing!

[@iron4517]

thats vox for you

[@joshuaschmidt5986]

yeah this should be published, would love to read the details

[@daveblack6951]

Welcome to Vox!

[@pasdpasse439]

Academic journals usually include STEM subjects

[@TomRosenthal1]

This is a wonderfully made and very important doc, especially for young artists. Delighted to be a small part of it.

[@newb4038]

Your here

[@justin.booth.]

Didn't expect to see you here!

[@dirkdiggler.]

Nothing on tik tok is important

[@ryucerie]

Great to see you here! Your music is awesome!

[@maia-ek8rr]

It was super cool to see you show up in the video :)

[@faisssssssss]

It would also be good if you could shed a light on the bad influence of tiktok on the music industry, like how major labels are forcing big artists to do tiktoks to ride the trend wave as well as creating an obsession with constantly posting could lead to burnout.

[@Pat_KraPao]

What big artists are being forced to do tiktok?

[@mina-min]

@@Pat_KraPao Florence and the machine is one example

[@imageez]

I suspect this was researched before this became a topic, but we can make an educated guess from what has been researched. They want the big money from Tiktok listneners, so they say to artists, hey, these nineteen year olds got hella listeners and money (according to this system we choose to exploit them with), why don't you adults do the same?

[@DustFR]

Well charlie Puth is definitely the biggest one i can think of

[@leonmeyers7009]

Same goes for K-pop groups & their labels😪

[@JVKE]

so thankful i get to do what i love for a living. :) amazing video vox✨

[@Pcgamingfixes]

Hey look, it’s you. Lol

[@emilianorosario5935]

congrats man!

[@Neliel97]

I love your songs! Congrats on the well-deserved success💜

[@Clavinohou]

good job on the one song that goes like

[@minibray]

I’m just glad one of my friends showed me your music since I’m not on TikTok

[@tayloreh]

Nobodys talking about what this does to the quality of music itself. It forces every song to essentially be reduced to as impactful a 15 second snippet as possible, seriously dumbing down the possibilities of music

[@lillysummeroriginals1213]

👍😀

[@strawberryprincess88]

This is so true! Megan trainers latest song is kinda lazy

[@Justin-jy6fu]

Like the in car radio music in a video game

[@jamtronllc]

I think it’s important that it’s still OK to just make music. It’s OK to make a song in your bedroom and send it to a couple friends just be happy that you are creating. There is so much pressure to self promote and market yourself constantly after you make a song. It’s OK to just be an artist for yourself and a few others because it’s very fulfilling without the madness of trying to grow an audience on social media.

[@shazamn8983]

Word!

[@pippistyles]

Well said!

[@Ipoetize]

Yes, yes, and yes.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Absolutely. Some people thrive posting every little thing online and getting feedback but I found I work best when I create in private and only widely share the stuff I love the best.

[@jamesdavid6985]

Thank you for saying this! I’ve been thinking about posting stuff online but I’m a little worried about getting obsessed over it, at the cost of neglecting my career. Ultimately I just wanna post stuff for fun, and if it becomes successful that’ll just be a bonus I guess.

[@jeremymuesing3486]

Can't decide if this is encouraging or disheartening. Nice to see artists gaining power back through social media but at the same time they are subject to the whims of social media. They replaced one problem with another. And on top of that they are creating a few seconds of sounds in a shotgun format to hopefully keep the train going. If the problem with the labels was subservience the new problem might be constant anxiety that you'll be replaced in a matter of hours

[@Putt-Putt]

Well good thing that instead of the record label putting a knife at your throat, now it's the users who will determine your success in TikTok. Also subject to TikTok's algorithm.

[@peterparker9954]

Atleast they won't be poor

[@illfather7066]

They say its way easier to break through than it is to stay relevant

[@Stallagmite]

ya, totally, 👍 I can't see my original songs fitting on tic toc and if I put all that energy into content-promotion, I'd have no energy left for creative song making 😁

[@pinkpablo5960]

meet the new boss...........

[@LDreTheGiant]

7:06 thanks for having me this was awesome!

[@lukewinfield8666]

I work as a marketing manager for artists and producers with 4 years of A&R under my belt - 3 at Atlantic Records. I preach this video's message word for word multiple times a week. This is a phenomenal video Vox and thank you for adding the data and visuals required for a better understanding.

[@Sam-cq9us]

Hey, quick question how would you describe the type of music that usually goes viral on tiktok is it Pop, hip hop or Jazz, singer songwriter etc. does the genre even matter. like from your perspective what do you usually see on the app?

[@rabbitazteca23]

@@Sam-cq9us it's weird because tiktok has allowed people to form communities or "cores". So far I've seen a lot of pop but also some RnB with Jazz. I can imagine that if enough Jazz people join tikokt and create a vibrant community, you could discover more talents there related to Jazz.

[@KLienne]

Yikes, imagine needing to keep up with TikTok to earn your money.

[@MargaritaPerez-iv9xv]

I'm a data science nerd and it was so cool to see a collab with the pudding. I love pop culture, especially music culture. Amazing video!!!

[@rabbitazteca23]

same as a data scientist I was soooo geeking out and was even tempted to pause the video and download the datasets myself HAHAAAHA.

[@alexgreen03]

SAME! I'm a data analyst and this was heaven for my brain!

[@LLusion]

this video was so well done! was hyped on a the little cameo lol s/o to all the homies in here.

[@yojacq]

Llusion here

[@yzhassan2606]

meow

[@pHixiq]

@@yzhassan2606 excuse me

[@Mu3azOsman]

All artists are content creators now. Movie stars, athletes, tv-show hosts, photographers, and even musicians HAVE to create content to showcase their talent/support their art success. Look at all the movie stars and basketball players joining tiktok, KZbin, and Instagram to promote themselves beyond the silver screens and basketball courts just to "stay relevant" and stay on people's radar the longest

[@bjduncc]

No not really. Most of those professions you listed already have plenty of money

[@hermeslein6614]

China is now the kost powerful that’s why

[@spilltea4241]

@@bjduncc celebrities just don't want to be popular because of the money

[@LoganNagol]

Yeah but look at all that aren’t

[@verygoodfreelancer]

it’s sad that no matter what your art form is, you also are obligated by these tech giants to express it through “content creation”

[@AskMikeWarner]

This is so well cut together and informative. While some may be disheartened by how quickly this particular song came together I hope they can also look to this for ways to think outside of the box when it comes to sharing their music on socials. Here’s hoping we will see more stories like this so we can learn from these creators and apply their tactics for our own growth!

[@kennergaldamezsosa1318]

All Vox content is.

[@actuallyavailable]

welcome to Vox

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yeah, honestly, with the part about people asking for full versions on Spotify it hit me - you can just publish all your sketches and improvisations and let the feedback of the crowd direct which ones you develop into full tracks rather than having to decide on your own. That’s kinda cool actually.

[@kungfumind.]

Tik tok songs are like ringtones. It doesn't sound right when your radio station plays it and your parents sing it

[@fandroid6491]

It doesn't sound right if my parrot sings it too. Or my cat. Or by that rice cooker sitting on my kitchen.

[@martinhawes5647]

Why would anyone sing a ringtone?

[@Klrfl101]

@@martinhawes5647 that is the point. It doesn't sound right

[@iam_RyanBronson]

Lol ringtones were lit tho

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@Klrfl101 tell that to all the people who acapella’d or whistled the Nokia Tune lol

[@Jayfive276]

Wow, Jvke looks like someone grew an influencer in a lab.

[@koschbka]

literally..

[@maildaemon]

He does seem pretty basic. Still, good for him

[@DLCS-2]

That what K-pop is.

[@holly-gt9fy]

@@DLCS-2 lol, so accurate. ☠️

[@grandre3464]

That’s pretty much what happened

[@kailengray2822]

Vox never missed with answering the question no one care to asks. this video is top tier informative.

[@LesbianCinemaCircuit]

an internet version of watching a song on MTV and then going into the store to buy the album. Tiktok seems to be the new way to introduce new artists

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh that’s a great analogy.

[@DivineOtter]

I'd be super interested to see what kind of longevity these viral artists end up seeing. Do they actually go on to have full successful careers, or is TikTok more of a big one hit wonder factory?

[@preciadoalex123]

Like 1%

[@sudimara7731]

They're researching new breakout artist from 2020, so still a long way to go to judge their longevity

[@natatatt]

Would be great if they did a video re-visiting this topic in a year or two to see how things went for the artists.

[@firstname4653]

some of them definitely do, look at lil nas x and 24kGoldn. and there’s a lot of others like jvke or salem ilse (who wasn’t part of this video but just as another example) who might not be the most famous but are definitely able to have a full successful careers after the tiktok hits

[@ohsehun6470]

depends on the artist. lil nas x and doja cat were able to sustain their fame

[@ElyWaves.]

The thing people don’t realize is even if you’re a one hit wonder, if you retain ownership of your song, you’re pretty much set to never work another day in your life. You’ll get monthly checks basically forever. Ownership is everything. I really fw the idea of licensing your music > selling it. Think that’s the new model indie artists who want to get into the big leagues should look for.

[@niji.sateenkaari8835]

same goes for stories. Remember the guy who wrote the witcher series and sold the rights for...9000 $ or such? And remember George Lucas, who did it right.

[@krishbbk2]

This is just brilliant. Cannot understate the depth of data and insights, following up with artists and understanding the reality of it all. Don't change vox. You're the only journalism institute I regularly follow.

[@Taby_G]

Data analyst here, you guys did an amazing job. I don’t know if you’re just showing excel for the video graphics or you actually did some data analysis through excel, if you did. I take my hat off to you, amazing job.

[@Matojeje]

What's the program you'd actually use?

[@caseysmith5310]

I am personally a concert promoter, and we have found that there is a very small window where a "TikTok Artist" is actually worth any tickets...this TikTok music world is still relatively young so it's hard to know the long term effects of it all, but what I would be really curious to know is the data on "TikTok Artists" and how it actually translates to ticket sales and touring. This would be a great follow up video.

[@folabiayonrinde4185]

The storytelling, the data visualisation, the animation in the this video 😮‍💨👌🏾 so so so good

[@SuperMustache555]

The reporting here is incredible! The video editing elevated it to another level!

[@SecretSquirrelFun]

Wow, you people really did SO much work on this. I’m amazed at the detail you were able to glean from the data. Impressive is an understatement. This must have felt like opening up the biggest “can of worms” EVER. Fantastic, and so good, I watched it twice. Thank you for sharing this video with me, much better 🙂🐿

[@martinhawes5647]

Bit of an exaggeration. This is just what research looks like. But this might be the first time you’ve seen investigative journalism.

[@rabbitazteca23]

@@martinhawes5647 I am a data scientist and I'd say they did REALLY REALLY well in using data to gain insights! I am not familiar with investigative journalism and from the ones I have watched, the level of data gathering, preprocessing, and analysis and visualization is really impressive on this one. This is something I do on my job to lead clients to choose decisions that generates the best growth.

[@chengyiq3066]

The amount of work & research put into this video alone is simply amazing, and it's only an understatement!!

[@eduardoco789]

Im happy to see that these fresh and young artists are getting wiser on their decision especially on their career and kudos to the dude who said the line "im their biggest nightmare really because im over, you know, 19".

[@raphaeldecastropereira6987]

Earworm really needs to have it's own series like glad you asked and explained

[@ophello]

Its. Not “it’s”.

[@cupofjoen]

And Daniel Kim

[@TheRealityofFake]

Awesome video! Also, I think it'll be interesting to dive more into the question of are musicians just a type of content creator. I think of this especially in the context of kpop where it's not just the music that's important, but the style, the personalities, the interactions with fans, etc etc

[@purnangshupaul]

What a fantastic research. Kudos to you guys for making this

[@ericcartmansh]

I can't even ballpark the amount of time you must have spent just compiling the underlying stats for this video. Would absolutely love to see the source sheet, if not for the data then at least for the way the sheet was structured. So so so many ways to slice and dice the data! 15/10 video

[@BoxoutMusic]

I was one of those 125 artists who got their big break from a TikTok hit in 2020! My song "I Just Want To Be The One You Love" exploded because of some popular video trends, and it allowed me to launch my music career.

[@Sam-cq9us]

would you say your song going viral was random or did you make it with the intention of people starting trends with it? and about how long did it take to blow up?

[@BoxoutMusic]

@@Sam-cq9us It was totally random! The song that went viral is one I only put about 2.5 hours of effort into and then forgot about. I never expected it to go anywhere lol

[@Sam-cq9us]

@@BoxoutMusic how long did it take to catch on immediately or weeks?

[@BoxoutMusic]

@@Sam-cq9us I posted the song in summer 2019, and it didn’t even catch on until around March 2020

[@Sam-cq9us]

@@BoxoutMusic wow interesting i wish there was some way we could detect it or something. But it seems to be completely random (on top of already being a good song). Have you had any success after that? Like long term.

[@papyrusted]

Now I understand why they’re pushing all the artist to do viral TickTock’s

[@hermeslein6614]

Becuase China the most powerful

[@s5r581]

@@hermeslein6614 powerful what? Because they Banned china people from the west and when the song get viral and no politics then china can see them then it's get popular? Or something else?

[@thegnarledpirate9198]

@@hermeslein6614 China is conquering the west through TikTok. I will never bow to the Chinese! *Orders sushi from Ifood*

[@melunz8138]

@@thegnarledpirate9198 sushi is japanese food

[@Putt-Putt]

@@melunz8138 tells you a lot of these mindless anti-china sentiments if they can't even differentiate between China and Japan.

[@mink03]

An amazing doc, but as a musician heartbreaking to watch. Adding all of these social networks into the mix, it adds a double edged sword when it comes to getting your music out there. Now more than ever, technology has made it easier for anyone to go out and put out a song.

[@iam_RyanBronson]

I disagree - its inspiring to me! Anyone can do it Many will quit Many aren’t good enough Many aren’t patient enough The strong & the persistent will survive! Its not who ya know anymore

[@maebliss344]

@@iam_RyanBronson I agree with him…it only adds to the noise out there, and there are plenty of talented artists who don’t want to be on social media at all, much less spend hours daily figuring out how to hijack algorithms. I mean…kudos to these fellas for figuring it out, but it’s going to eliminate a lot of talented musicians and songwriters from being discovered just because they don’t have a TikTok. Michael is correct-it’s adding noise that new artists have to cut through. There are obvious benefits, and I am one of those folks that turned down a contract with a label because it would have meant relinquishing rights to our songs, but in my case, keeping integrity meant breaking up the band because my mate wanted to sell out, and I didn’t. I wish my band mate had seen the value in what I was trying to do for us like Edith Whiskers, and we were getting an organic following quickly with no release of an EP or single, but I wore soooo many hats that I felt like I barely had time to write, and I can’t imagine adding TikTok to the mix. Now I invest 0 time in music because as a writer, knowing the rates the Gov set on streaming royalties, I just don’t see the ROI being there/it makes more sense to use my STEM degree….my understanding was that touring and licensing is the only real way to earn as a songwriter anymore, but I have been out of the industry for around 4 yrs now.

[@rainbomg]

@@maebliss344 you are lucky though, in a way, since you have a degree you can make a good living and just focus on your art without any pressure. In the war of art he says, “if you were the last person left on earth, and no one would ever see it/hear it, would you do it then? Would you still make your art? Success should never be the only justification you accept for taking the time out of your schedule to feed your soul. No one simply “doesn’t have the time” for something, you choose what matters to you and you make the time for it. I do hope that you will prioritize your art. I spent many years working full time and coming home and painting all night. I’d have to request vacation days for art shows and I’d barely get done in time. Eventually I was able to switch to part time, then to full time art, and now I’m going back into working part time again. What matters most is at the end of the day, did you find beauty? Did it find you? You deserve to feed that need in your soul, if it’s there, to connect with the universe that made you- even if it never pays a dime.

[@maebliss344]

@@rainbomg Just to clarify….I’ve always done both, but extenuating circumstances and led me to instead of focusing on music, more so on gardening and other talents. I felt that music wasn’t really my first love. Writing is, and though songwriting is fun, I really need to dedicate that focus on one of the three books I’ve been forming in my mind for the last decade. Prior to music, I did more visual art and have won awards for that. I feel like music can become a bit of an idol, and I think it’s healthy to explore all one’s talents. Plus, to be blunt, not a fan of the music industry in general.

[@SM--]

I'm only in my late 20's and I felt so old trying to understand the beginning of the video and why exactly Jake became so popular. To me it sounds like he just started restreaming other people's viral videos to game the algorithm to become popular himself? And I don't understand how adding a small vocal bit of your own at the end of other people's songs makes you an artist. Maybe it's because I don't understand what happened, but to me it seems like he's just shamelessly riding on the popularity of others to get his name out there so he can inject his own content to other people's music to profit out of it. Seems really unoriginal and shameless to me.

[@angrygopnik2317]

That's how capitalism works

[@fandroid6491]

I'm only in my 1st decade and I feel like my age is 50 from watching this video.

[@emmetharrigan5234]

yeah that's basically it. Ride the virality of another artist, get some gimmick "it factor" like pretending your mom produced the song you actually made, and be young and attractive so the algorithm boosts your boo boo music.

[@roeland195]

Oof harsh take but I agree. That's a lot of what the entertainment industries are in general though, always riding on what worked in the past.

[@chillin5703]

Well, no. If I understood, he makes a mashup of two songs that are popular (as in, he mixes, edits, etc - similar to a remix), then pretends his mom made them. He added his own vocal to the end of one to see if it could work, and then from that point he started making more original stuff.

[@ZonieMusic]

Caution! Remember the genre of music you make also matters... Less mainstream genres or those not fit with the usual younger audience of Tiktok users will probably not do well. EDIT: The keyword here is 'probably'. This is coming from a 20-year old who likes experimenting with mixing orchestra and electronic sounds. If you want to make non-mainstream music, go ahead!

[@tungochuy]

I mean that's the case and you cannot build a loyal fan base through making mainstream songs

[@ZeusFeni]

Keyword: Probably. Attempt anyway, you have nothing to lose

[@fandroid6491]

I'm proud that I'm not one of the Gen Z people who likes the garbage that is nowadays trendy music. Literally any pop music before the 2000s

[@MrJosexph]

@@fandroid6491 Take it from me, you don't want to be that guy. Who's to say you aren't the one listening to garbage music? I only say that because its all relative and based on preference. Just because its trendy doesn't mean its bad, nor does it mean that you shouldn't listen to it. Like what you want and don't judge those around you, or else be ready for the same stones to be tossed.

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

@@fandroid6491 @JoeyKisling also it is a historical pattern. You do realize that bands that are considered classics now had detractors that called them garbage when the songs were new. I am not saying all new trendy music will become classics, but some of them will.

[@codishaa]

This is fascinating research. Kudos to yall! As a social media manager, I need more videos like this please!! I also love that yall mentioned these artists need to go on tour to expand their exposure. In real life experiences are just as important as the digital.

[@JVKE]

hey that’s me :)

[@leaveitorsinkit242]

You’re one of the few artists I know who releases slowed down + reverb versions of their own songs. 😂

[@SaltedPickles]

Hmmm 4 likes L

[@Panda-ss3zh]

Hey Jake come to mongolia!

[@MyBroSux24]

Now you got this data, can you also give an insight about old songs that out of nowhere get picked up go viral and streamed massively and even rising to the top of the chart? I mean Songs like "Heat Waves " by glass animals is in the uk top 40 for almost 2 consecutive years. How? How can tiktok be such a influence to finding old tracks and shoot through the roof statistically

[@gamesgames3318]

Yes even old songs from other languages. I'm amazed with the diversity and age of these viral old songs.

[@redroyce4590]

This is the dream for a lot of people, to become a successful musician / content creator. The video was very informative, so thanks making and releasing it Vox.

[@Sam-cq9us]

yes it is

[@coolthought8456]

This single video is the most insightful ever for the current trend in the music industry. The most important thing is asking the right questions to get the most valuable insights and you guys totally nail them. Great job. I have a question with something mentioned in the video. WIth an output like 3 to 4 post a day in TIktok, is the quality going bad? Are the listener sense of good music is going bad?

[@AgentMaayan]

From a data analyst perspective, this is so well made and well researched. Super interesting, thank you!

[@suzannekruyswijk]

I recently realised that most of the music on my playlists I discovered on TikTok! I'm glad to see it is helping to create a more fair environment for the artists.

[@HarunaMaurer]

knew both of Jvke's songs because they are super used on social media but had no idea Jvke was a diy artist, i always thought he was an upcoming artist from a label

[@truthseeker6843]

This is huge, the most useful thing I watched this month for sure. As a person who is dreaming about being an artist, this is just instruction to how, and I am grateful for that

[@k.k8791]

The world is changing and everything moves so fast ..everything is weird

[@fakhri9156]

It's both interesting and terrifying

[@petrus9067]

It's excruciatingly scary for the future since you just have no idea what will be going on

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@petrus9067 man, I remember 15 years ago I was like “it’s so exciting, the possibilities are endless” focused on the good possibilities. Now I’m older I’m like “oh god, all the possibilities” in terror about the bad ones.

[@jomertomale]

Is music just content now? The real answer: Yes. Most of them. Ever since. Even from Beethoven's time. But some still are. Art.

[@jessine]

This was fantastic. Just like every other video Vox puts out. I'm blown away by the quality, relevance, fascination and entertainment value of your videos. Thank you so much.

[@marinemanaphy101]

It’s interesting to me to see which artists are bad at this. There’s one in particular (not going to name names bc I don’t want to be mean) who had a really good song that I liked but he *refused* to release it until he’d gotten enough tiktok attention on it. For literal months, this clip would come up on my FYP, and half the time it’d be the artist himself saying something like “Help this get more plays and I’ll release it” or just replying to literally every comment with another clip where he used the audio. Eventually the comments turned against him more and more. People were annoyed that he didn’t release it. He started losing followers and his likes declined. Eventually he released the song, but it was kinda too late - people were annoyed at the gimmicky “give me more likes and maybe I’ll release it” attitude, and the stalling, and whatever else. He didn’t really get the listeners or the streams, and I’ll fully admit, I liked the song but got tired of following along for a couple months and I didn’t really listen either by the time it came out. A lot of these artists who get a viral tiktok song have to be able to move fast and move correctly, and for a lot of them it’s just not in their wheelhouse. When people talk about it being hard work, they’re not kidding. A lot of aspects of pop culture are like steering a ship, in the sense that all changes are slow and it takes a while to see the impact - but tiktok is like go karts, where you can start and stop suddenly and make fast turns to or away from something. It’s not just working hard, but it’s also having an understanding of timing and of how to build hype, and that level of strategic thinking is a lot to try to handle when you’re a new artist without experience who suddenly has to figure out how to handle their first-ever release potentially being a number one hit on spotify.

[@Isaiahmightbecool]

The fact that this channel puts so much effort in the videos.

[@Internetiswatchingu]

So glad to see this series return! I’ve missed it. What a great way to start it back up! Excellent work

[@crescentris]

this was so helpful and informative as someone looking into what the modern day musician career path looks like now! thank you!

[@WyessEnt]

Your not a musician if you need this information, music is creating something because you love it. Of course we look up to all the big name artists due to their fame but the real reason you should want to do it is because you want to create something people will love. Instead everyone wants to be famous and chase fame that doesn’t equate to something being good. Make something that makes you happy and others happy.

[@JMsurYT]

The depth of the research for a KZbin video is outstanding. Kudos to you Vox for putting the effort !

[@geniuspeng]

It’s amazing how many underlying trends you can uncover by diving into the data

[@exzactlyvideo]

FINALLY a video exploring this topic! LOVE

[@joshupton]

So good! Came in expecting it to be a classic "TikTok is ruining everything" piece, left with a whole lot of nuance around the current and future of the music industry. Really great stuff👏👏👏

[@Alexander-mh2ky]

If you didn’t notice by the video but tiktok is ruining musical creativity by forcing todays artists to center their songs around a catchy or “viral” part of their song. This leads to unoriginalality and degrading of music to limit itself to the catchiness of its chorus

[@colin-nekritz]

Well, TikTok IS ruining everything, there is a reason it’s banned in most smart counties, it’s even banned in China due to its toxic nature as decided by their government, and the Chinese government OWNS friggin TikTok, which tells you everything.

[@austinfarwell]

WELL DONE! Sums up the last 2 years as an artist on TikTok perfectly.

[@Sam-cq9us]

would you say i'ts a certain genre that tiktoks demographic gravitates to? ex Pop, hiphop etc. i'm asking because i've never used the app. like how do you see it from your perspective.

[@pogeman2345]

This is why that Twitch clip/VOD of T-Pain explaining how labels work left a sour taste in my mouth when he talked about artists under labels not getting enough money after getting signed so the label has to step in and control the artist in everything that they have to do to recoup the lost money on the advance.

[@alictina]

This is gold! This really represents the shift of every industry - A24 in movie industry and many self published writers. The time of big abusive and stealing corporations is going down and maybe this is the reason why so many companies are shrinking and thinking about lowering costs rather than innovating! Invest your time in quality art and use content just to share it.

[@neilharris1440]

Thanks foir this. It would be great if you did a part 2 on this to analyze whether it was a better decision (at least financially) for the artists to stay independent or not.

[@blackpanther9504]

I feel like living in some sort of dystopia.

[@leaveitorsinkit242]

In this day and age… 240 fifteen *second* clips is worth more than 1 *hour* long album.

[@cloudgoose]

Really great reporting. I feel like I understand the pros and cons of Spotify better now, and the music industry better now.

[@JohnnyFiction]

I can't help but feel more that Music isn’t as much music for the love of music anymore, as much as it’s become an algorithm you exploit for tiny viral TikTok moments, curated for young people will smaller and smaller attention spans. It's truly become "content" over art. Not all thankfully, but more so now than ever sadly.

[@dave5194]

mhm. There was another YTber who talked about this problem. "The problem with the internet that no one is talking about" was the title. Very easy for artists to start off making content to support their art and then find themselves becoming more and more dependent on making "content" instead of the art that they want to make

[@dissonantdreams]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this is a dystopian development for the music industry, and all forms of art in general.

[@JohnnyFiction]

@@dave5194 yeah that makes a lot of sense

[@JohnnyFiction]

@@dissonantdreams let’s hope gen alpha turns it around

[@Remonlore]

are these the new commercial of this gen....

[@rayres1074]

Holy. Jvke is indeed a biz tycoon. What a smart lad, being able to capitalize so efficiently on his success.

[@jus2mangue]

Really interesting video. Thank you so much for all your research !

[@tummy_jr]

Respect to the amount of work/research you guys do for a 10-15 minute video/content. Love you guys. Keep it up 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@ferjacob3814]

Every artist need to watch this!!! This is why I have so much respect for Jojo and Taylor Swift!!! They fought the labels and evil ppl in the industry and re-record that way they own their masters.

[@ohshunboy1016]

god the editing DOES NOT MISS!! EVER!!

[@Hydraas]

Always good to see Tom Rosenthal getting the recognition he deserves

[@iam_RyanBronson]

His story is fascinating about the pseudonym

[@iqbal55]

Incredible amounts of research done for this video and the visual output and overall message was astounding. Kudos Vox! Also all that stuff about having to generate fresh content 2-5 times PER DAY to feed the algorithm gods made me suffocate a bit, since I practically don't exist on social media

[@Fritzelgard]

the amount of work put into this is incredible, bravo Vox!

[@freddywhite]

Fascinating work, as always. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these 22 minutes!

[@noahjezyk]

This is why im going into screen scoring instead of artist music. Its so unreliable to make a decent living in an industry like commercial music when all the labels are just try to shake every penny out of you

[@MarcreaMusic]

Loving these documentaries on the new state of the music industry. Might just give this a shot as an experiment.

[@andredenegri8633]

Kudos to the work and research put into this video!

[@shubhamgarg931]

Whenever i play to quit something as impressive as this pops up. Excellent content, thankyou for showing up in my feed.

[@bouncingdude]

I am a long-time drummer, a schooled musician. The young generation has not really experienced the "organic" music scene, i.e. where musicians play their own instruments. They aren't very familiar with live bands. It seems to be a lost art nowadays (maybe it'll come back) and that's sad. Viral today - gone tomorrow. One day, people probably will want to connect with bands again, feel that chemistry, see a live expression on stage. This "explosive" virality is distanced from true, organic, profound, artistic expression. It's absolutely awful that artistry (if you can even call it that) has stooped this low. Bite-sized, snippet-like music scene. It's not about "it was better then..", no. It's about true organic feel, connection, chemistry. At least I can say that I am glad that I got to experience organic music.

[@Alexndace]

One of the best documentaries I have watched this year. I wish every upcoming and emerging sees this. Incredible job from The Pudding and Vox.

[@Nerdchacho]

And meanwhile, Sam Ryder went from doing TikTok covers to "winning" (the jury vote; second overall) Eurovision for the UK...

[@kuncakmiro7233]

It's nice that people now listen to songs that are whole 15 seconds long... Amazing!

[@yuliyahhh]

this video was even hard to comprehend, i can't imagine how hard it was to create it

[@dvs6121]

The camerawork is excellent... spinaround, overhead, zoominzoomout. So good.

[@josephpowers2184]

The purpose of labels is to get the artist's music out there. The job of the artist is to make music that he loves. The gravitational pull of the song with the audience is just secondary. Musicians, Producers and Artists are NOT marketers but they are somehow forced to because it's T R E N D I N G

[@kaitlyn__L]

Man, I remember being a teen in an audience of an internet musician where EVERYBODY there was passionate and singing along. I don’t really want to replicate it nowadays but it’s a good memory. Glad today’s teens are getting it from TikTok like I did from KZbin lol

[@cuppycakesrawrable]

Now those established artists are revolting at the fact they have to extensively promote their music on TikTok because their label insists, when in reality, labels are more interested in the young musicians who do that anyways.

[@legofan123456789able]

Estelle and Matt - WOW! Thanks for this and all the time invested!

[@vucanh7360]

Wow! Thank you Vox for such a nice research-intensive work 👍

[@kingace6186]

I love how deep and amazingly positive this video was! I very much appreciated this. Very informative; very engaging; very journalistic.

[@farnellnewton]

First of all WOW! Vox, thank you for this and you did an amazing job on bringing to light what a lot of us are doing out here in music. Some are going to see this and see doom and gloom and others are going to take this information and put it to use and seize the day.

[@Emily-br6bv]

Really great video! I don't know anything about the music industry but I do know a lot about tiktok and most of the music I listen to nowadays has come directly from tiktok. I appreciated all the hard work that went into this video!

[@Yaqins]

Another quality documentaries from Vox. Very well done guys.

[@sirmarky9991]

This is like a Qualitative Research put into a video. Kudos Vox. Always great video as always.

[@timeenbyvictorious]

This is so useful!!! Thanks!

[@kaysha]

Same thing is happening to my track "Something going on" right now. The pipeline is real