How TikTok users are supplanting the traditional functions of record labels, like talent scouting and publicity, for new artists
Alyssa Bereznak / The Ringer : Tweets: @jeremysliew , @alyssabereznak , @jeremysliew , @peterpham , and @karolcummins See also Mediagazer Tweets: @jeremysliew : “@suecothechild has been making music his whole life. But a year ago he made a crucial decision: asking not what kind of platforms would be the best for his music, but what kind of music would be best for his platforms.” Enter @tiktok_us https://www.theringer.com/... Alyssa Bereznak / @alyssabereznak : i wrote about tiktok rappers in the post-lil nas x era, and how memes are taking over pop music https://www.theringer.com/... @jeremysliew : .@wsj has great stats on @tiktok_us. Engagement is strong -8 sessions and 45+min per day. $1b+ in annual revenue. Surprisingly, $1b+ in marketing spend. We haven't seen a US social media winner spend meaningfully for customer acquisition before. https://www.wsj.com/... Peter Pham / @peterpham : I thought this was common knowledge. It was @wish in 2017/18 and now 2018/2019 @tiktok_us as the largest mobile ad install buyer. https://twitter.com/... Karol Cummins / @karolcummins : TikTok's Vids Are Goofy. Its Strategy to Dominate SocMed Is Serious. China's first big hit in the US. uses an advanced algorithm to personalize its video-sharing app, & parent Bytedance's enormous ad spending on Snap, FB & Instagram aims to hook users https://www.wsj.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Bytedance built TikTok's US audience the expensive way — a ~$1B advertising blitz in 2018 that made it Snap's biggest advertiser — and this piece captures what that purchased audience then did to the music business: the listeners themselves started doing the work labels used to charge for. Alyssa Bereznak's reporting follows rappers like @suecothechild who now write for the feed first, asking what music suits the platform rather than which platform suits the music.
Two product choices make users viable replacements for label departments: the no-timestamp upload design lets months-old tracks resurface and go viral long after release, and the retention-optimized recommendation algorithm turns meme adoption into measurable distribution. In the post-Lil Nas X era, a song's publicity campaign can be assembled by strangers, for free.
First-order effects
- New artists like @suecothechild gain a path to audience without a label's scouting or PR machinery — but must shape their songwriting around what performs in short-form video.
Second-order effects
- Labels lose their gatekeeping leverage at the top of the funnel and are pushed toward signing acts already validated by viral traction, while TikTok's young-skewing user base — pitched to advertisers as an entertainment platform, not a social network — becomes de facto paid radio for music marketing.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, artist development reorganizes around detecting what the algorithmic crowd has already endorsed rather than predicting it, shifting power in the music industry from A&R judgment to whoever can read and feed the recommendation systems.
The trend: Pop-music discovery is migrating from label-run scouting and publicity to user-driven virality inside algorithmically curated short-video platforms.