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Throughout the pandemic, TikTok has been a source of comfort and distraction for so many isolated individuals. As we approach the one-year mark from when everyone’s lives were drastically changed by Covid-19, TikTok influencers have been busy experimenting with new forms of creating and releasing music. From musicals to sea shanty remixes to breakout artists gaining large-scale traction, TikTok has become an ideal medium for innovative music in the pandemic epoch. With artists having more time and fewer live opportunities available, turning to a popular app with over 100 million global users* to continue performing makes sense. The app’s magical algorithm makes it easier than ever before for artists to reach their target audiences, no matter how obscure or specific the genre. Hashtags, Duets, and Stitches — when a creator adds onto another’s video — enable users to even tag onto popular accounts and draw inspiration, leading to incredible virtual collaborations.
As Broadway and most theaters remain shuttered, musical theater lovers have grown a dedicated fan base on their corner of TikTok. While many artists performed covers of famous songs from shows like Phantom of the Opera, Frozen, and West Side Story, others began composing original songs based on hypothetical musicals. One that gained the most traction was Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical. Emily Jacobsen (@e_jaccs) posted a short song she made up about the beloved Disney-Pixar character in Aug. 2020. The catchy tune soon went viral with fans posting their own covers. Musicians added an orchestral score, songwriters wrote songs for other characters, and others designed sets, costumes, and playbills. Even though the animated film was released in 2007, TikTok users fed off of their collective pent-up artistry and nostalgia for the feel-good Disney universe and turned a simple earworm into a social phenomenon. As more and more users posted their takes on the “Ratatousical” theme and the buzz extended to established news organizations, a crowd-sourced virtual show was released on January 1, 2021, combining Broadway professionals and TikTok performers in a lighthearted, pandemic-safe, musical celebration. Advertised as a benefit concert, ticket sales and donations raised over $2,000,000* for The Actors Fund, providing relief for individuals in the struggling industry. Thus, TikTok established itself as a platform for creating collaborative, virtual musical productions.
As Ratatouille was coming to life, Bridgerton, a Netflix Regency-era rom-dram, was released on Christmas Day. The show grew a massive fanbase, including many TikTok creators. While many dressed in Regency-inspired fashion or recited lines from the show, singer-songwriter Abigail Barlow (@abigailbarlowww) took it one step further. Barlow first posted a short song that poetically encapsulated the character Daphne Bridgerton’s poignant pining for the hunky Simon, Duke of Hastings, which currently has 1.8 million views. However, it was her second inspired song, “Burn for You,” named after Simon’s iconic line in the show, that ignited the newest musical craze. That song, currently sitting at 5 million views, was duetted by many talented singers, vying for the hypothetical roles with their own mock auditions. Barlow became inspired to write an entire concept album based on the 8 episode series. Collaborating with fellow talented musician and composer, Emily Bear (@emilythebear), the unstoppable duo has been releasing snippets of new music almost daily, both in posts and via live streams on TikTok. Similar to Ratatouille, Barlow and Bear’s musical progress has been featured in many news articles, including on Playbill and People Magazine. The pair often duet covers by fans on the app, and with their rapid song production pace, the hype will likely not die down for a while. Bridgerton, both the show and this new musical prospect, have garnered a devoted fanbase, revealing how these movie/tv to musical adaptations have become the new book-to-movie craze.
Music and sounds are integral to TikTok’s success as an app. 60 seconds of popular songs of all genres and original sounds created by users themselves are reused by other creators, building trends identifiable in great part by their sounds. TikTok even released a Year in Review* of the most popular music, breakout artists, genres, and more. Additionally, casual users are able to discover new music easily thanks to the algorithm’s ability to adapt to individual preferences. Taylor Swift’s 2009 hit “Love Story” is an example of this combination of algorithms and trends. Millennials and older Gen Zers associate this song with their childhoods but many younger users have only been introduced to the pop anthem through the app. With Swift’s updated re-release of the iconic song on Feb. 11, new life has been breathed into her music, transcending generations of fans. Nonetheless, Swift has been prevalent in pop culture for years, as have other big-name musicians. For breakout stars, the 60-second format may lend itself better to one-hit wonders rather than established artists. If the key to viral success is to hop on the bandwagon of big names in the industry, is TikTok just a temporary means of staying connected in a temporary period?
Tai Verdes (@taiverdes), a 24-year-old artist whose single, “Stuck in the Middle,” exploded in popularity throughout the summer of 2020, believes a lot of musicians’ success on the app is just luck. In a Rolling Stones interview* In July, he commented, “TikTok is like buying lottery tickets. I just played a bunch of lottery tickets.” After years of trying out for voice competitions, like “The Voice” and “American Idol” as well as using TikTok video trends to market himself, his upbeat song happened to make its way onto people’s “For You” Pages. Verdes encouraged his growing fanbase to like and share the initial 60-second snippet if they wanted him to release a full version, and sure enough, his social media savvy paid off.
18-year-old Lyn Lapid (@lynlapid) had a similar experience earlier in April 2020. After posting hundreds of videos of her covering popular songs and duetting with other artists, she posted an original song snippet, inspired by a frustrating interaction with a music producer. That first clip of what is now “Producer Man” currently has 51.5 million views, and Lapid signed a deal with Republic Records shortly after that initial video. Both artists’ narrative lyricism and catchy beats attracted massive fanbases, and both songs rose on Spotify’s viral charts. As more artists quickly rise to fame, TikTok is now partnering with UnitedMasters* to help artists distribute their music and maintain ownership over their work.
Several questions remain: How will live performance regain traction after the pandemic? Ratatouille and Bridgerton reveal that crowd-sourced virtual musicals are possible, but will artists in isolation provide the same Broadway magic as live performance? Verdes and Lapid exemplify the lottery that TikTok is for musicians, but with the company joining forces with UnitedMasters, will the platform be a feasible career entry point for future breakout artists? The social shifts that will happen within the next year will undeniably impact the music industry, hopefully for the better, but how TikTok responds will be fascinating indeed.
