Don’t miss the opportunity of going viral using the tools and platforms created by TikTok to make it easier for indie artists to connect with music fans.
TikTok announced on Music Business Worldwide that they will be launching a beta program (known as SoundOn) that will help upcoming artists move from phase A to B in their music careers. The major problem with attaining exposure on TikTok is that its audience is so vast that artists find it challenging to define their fanbase, sell merch, and hold concerts in physical locations. A good example is Coi Leray, a female artist who is struggling to garner loyal fans among the hip-hop communities despite releasing successful singles and collaborating with established rappers like Lil Durk, Gunna, Wale, and EARTHGANG. With the SoundOn platform, TikTok hopes to bridge the gap between its online platform and the world stage.
Also, they are working with UnitedMasters, an American music distribution service, to help indie artists distribute their music to all music platforms directly from the TikTok app. UnitedMasters is home to popular artists like Lil Tecca, NLE Choppa, Lil XXEL, Tobe Nwigwe.
TikTok hopes to grow its commercial music library as a result of the UnitedMasters deal. TikTok’s commercial music library is a collection of pre-cleared and royalty-free songs approved by the owners (upcoming artists and established music houses).
The short-video sharing app doubles as a social networking platform fast becoming a music streaming giant. Unlike other audio-streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Deezer, TikTok has over 1 billion users across planet earth. Gone are the days when TikTok was dubbed the kids’ app; nowadays you can now find users of all ages on the platform. According to Wallaroo, 26% of the 80 million US users on TikTok are within the age range of 25-44 while 80% are between the ages 16-24. TikTok is a digital village consisting of all types of people from diverse backgrounds, age groups, belief systems, or gender.
Engagement Not Consumption
TikTok pays artists per engagement, not per stream, meaning artists get paid when their music is used to create video content on the platform. Therefore, the amount of views generated by the video content has no impact on the royalty payout. Also, the amount received per engagement is determined by the market share as opposed to the standard metric view system used by Apple and Spotify.
Most artists are generally interested in the TikTok model since it can give their music more exposure. In an interview with Genius, Xeno Carr (a member of the iLOVEFRIDAYS duo) said the exposure TikTok offers on their future projects is far more valuable than the royalty payout they would have gotten from the usual pay-per-stream model.
Where Social networking Intercepts ShowBiz
Although upcoming artists in the music industry can afford to trade music royalties for viral exposure, established artists who will get heard with or without TikTok prefer to get paid by their distributors. Aside from the money obtained from the distribution deal with Tiktok, another possible way of making money on TikTok is by monetizing live streaming. While the idea of paid live streaming is still in its baby phase, it is a promising one.
When artists plan to hold live-streamed concerts, they don’t have to pay for a physical space, plus they can also make tickets very affordable for fans. The reason artists charge $200 – $5000 for concerts is because it is expensive to rent stadiums and halls for shows.
While TikTok has yet to monetize its live streaming platform, it plans to do so after attaining an impeccable user experience. Artists like Ed Sheeran, Justin Beiber, and J Balvin have held separate shows using the TikTok Livestream platform and gained huge success. For example, the J Balvin live stream has about 4.5 million unique views. Finally, the artists in the future can tour with ease and earn more money using the Livestream platform.
