How To Promote Your Music On TikTok

No time to "think it over" - just get started.

Wondering why you should care about TikTok is the same as wondering why you should care about Instagram, Facebook, or even YouTube.

All social networks have direct advantages over others.

An artist fundamentally NEEDS to know where to promote their music.

First launched in 2014, the popular app Musical.ly was well-known for its large amount of users and trendy songs that users could lip-sync along to.

Then in 2017, Musical.ly was bought by Chinese company ByteDance and merged with the company’s pre-existing app, TikTok.

This fusion allowed for the merger of 300 million American and European users and an incredible 500 million Asian users all on one joint platform.

That's a huge amount of potential ears to hear your tracks!

Previously, Musical.ly had consisted mainly of lip-syncs to songs, however, since joining TikTok, users have now branched out into creating new and unique styles of original content, while still retaining the lip-syncing aspect that contributed so greatly to the success of both apps.

(Other apps that allow you to promote music online have been used by up-and-coming artists, one being Thriller)

This became a great outlet for musicians to make their music come alive and interact with fans in ways never seen before in social media history (it's some great stuff!) 

HOW CAN TIKTOK GET mE MORE STREAMS?

When your songs start to gain traction on the internet, this translates to immediate real-life clout for you as an artist.

This is why I consider it a music marketing service.

In 2018, a dance challenge based on a Drake song called the #InMyFeelings challenge allowed the song,

In My Feelings, to rank as one of the hottest songs of the year.

That's some wonderful free artist promotion.

A large chunk of the song’s success can be attributed to the free publicity and buzz that this trend generated among people, including all the celebrities who also joined in on the fun dance.

Imagine the royalty-free promo that comes from celebrities dancing to your music.

On TikTok, new trends, or ‘challenges’, are super common.

Trends appear every day for millions of users to try out and add their own unique twist.

The #IdolChallenge called for users to dance to the newly released BTS song Idol, giving exposure to the song to many people who may not have been previously familiar with the artists or genre, one of the best ways to promote music for the idols.

And make sure you're taking advantage of Boost Collective's free music promotion.

Their platform gives you playlist placements, music distribution, and more. It really is the #1 platform for music artists:

Now, K-pop isn't the only genre that has benefited from this, at least according to Digital media company Genius (I'm sure everybody has heard of it.)

Genius says that TikTok strongly influences songs that top the charts due to how widespread and common they become through usage on the app.

Knowing Genius, the music marketing advice is pretty legit.

Don't miss out: get a free music promotion!

TikTok also learns about its audience, therefore learning how to target specific local groups.

A large artist management company in Japan collaborated with TikTok to direct user traffic using a TikTok watermark placed in YouTube or Instagram posts containing songs featuring artists managed by that company.

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SETTING UP TIKTOK ACCOUNT 

But before you worry about appealing to the super smart TikTok algorithm to push your videos, creating an appealing profile must come first.w

Start with your username handle and your display name: This is how other users will recognize you on the app, so don’t change it too frequently.

Remember, branding is everything. 

Without keeping the branding, free music marketing won't help long-term.

Your account should also hold some sort of theme so that it’s easier to build an audience in a certain niche.

Some TikTokers have accounts focused on ASMR, comedy, cosplay, pranks, video games, and pretty much anything!

So find one topic to create content on, and try your hardest to master it. Any content you upload must be your original idea (with the exception of challenges/trends).

An easy way to ruin your reputation is by stealing others’ content and trying to pass it off as your own.

Next, since TikTok is a video-based app, you must look attractive and presentable!

This is how you’re portraying yourself to the world, so clean up a little bit before recording a clip.

You should try to appeal to your audience as much as possible.

Doing all of these things boosts your chance of having your videos shared among friends or promoted on the For You Page, arguably the two easiest ways to boost views and go viral.

Once you establish yourself on the platform, it’s crucial you maintain a certain level of honesty and transparency with your viewers.

If you’re constantly pushing sponsorships, merchandise, and other promotions at them, they’ll grow to dislike you.

Taking time to build a relationship with your audience and sharing your values with them will allow for engagement growth with your views and follower count, and the rest will follow naturally. 

WHICH SONG DO BEST ON TIKTOK?

Out of all the songs shared and used on TikTok, there’s a common trend between those that are successful and those that aren’t.

Songs with fun and memorable lyrics often find their fame on the app; these songs are fun to lip sync to and often have lines or beats-switches that can provide some kind of context without the rest of the song.

This song is a great example ☝️ the lyrics "first off.." prepare the viewer for the hook/twist/punchline.

Due to its easy-to-remix nature, it's become one of the most common TikTok song snippets. 

Since the maximum duration of a video made on TikTok is 15 seconds, these songs must be easy to remember and interesting.

Lyrics are often vague and versatile, allowing for users to create a treasure trove of jokes and puns centered around the song. 

HOW TO UPLOAD my sounds TO TIKTOK

TikTok is constantly showing us new and fresh artists to discover, undoubtedly part of what keeps the app interesting and exciting, as well as why we consider it one of the best apps for online music marketing.

This is definitely due to the feature where any user can upload their own sound clip for the world to see, meaning there is no limit to what sounds or music is available to users.

Users can now push their own tracks on the app to give them a cutting edge against other creators, similar to how Lil Nas X ensured his single Old Town Road made it onto the charts by using challengers, memes, and social media to gain exposure for his song.

There are only a few quick steps to get your sounds on TikTok, and get the free promo!

#1 - Record yourself

(or anything really, the video doesn't matter only the audio does) with the track playing in the background.

Try and keep the audio as clear as possible, so use a microphone when recording.

As soon as the recording is clear, tap next and you will be on the posting options screen. under "Who can view this video" tap Public and you will get more options.

#2 - Save the video as a private one.

This is so that your original video does not get released to your profile - it most likely won't be the best video in the world, since the purpose of it is just to get the sound up.

Now, you can go and check the video you saved. You will notice that is it private and that your sound finally exists, and can be used!

#3 - Go ahead and use your new sound!

Since you just created it there won't be any videos under it.

A brand new canvas for you to work on!

GREAT CONTENT IDEAS

It’s no secret that memes have always been a huge success on the internet, and TikTok is definitely no exception to this.

Probably more popular than any of the dance challenges or trends are the meme spin-offs that always follow them.

Jokes will range from internet-wide memes to jokes specific to the TikTok community, some using popular songs and some using original sounds from the users.

Memes that start on TikTok often spread to other social media platforms; the app has already created multiple dope trends that made their way to every corner of the internet.

It’s fairly straightforward to make your way into the meme-oriented community on TikTok, just follow comedic hashtags and other popular users that create memes to get your foot in the door and get some online music promotion.

TikTok also has an incredibly accurate algorithm for suggesting each user personalized content, called the ‘For You Page', which can also promote content to other users who may be interested in certain posts.

Obviously, the bulk of your TikTok success is going to come from the content you post.

This is where you have the most creative freedom, you get to choose what you upload onto your account!

Many dancing videos on the app become very popular and are an easy way to gain comments and likes.

Even if dancing isn’t your strong suit, give it a try and wild out! Being goofy can work to your advantage here.

Dancing can also be paired with lip-syncing, the other key to success on this app.

You can also choose to make short tutorial-style videos on music, comedy videos about being a rapper, or anything you want really.

To engage a TikTok audience, you can even try creating a challenge, or pay an influencer to post a challenge using your music.

This strategy proved to be very effective, as singer-songwriter Mxmtoon created challenge videos using her music on TikTok, and she now boasts over 630k fans on the app and 2.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Yeah, you read that correctly. 2.3 MILLION. That's a hefty sum.

GROWTH STRATEGIES

There are a few other tactics you can use to grow your account.

Comments

Leaving comments on other users’ uploads can help draw people to your profile when they see you in the comment section of their favorite content creator.

Comments can be as simple as a quick joke or compliment, or even a response to someone else’s comment.

Making conversation with other users is a highly effective way of meeting other creators such as yourself (just remember to mention them in the comment with ‘@’).

Be warned: rude or aggressive comments will ward others off from your profile and very quickly create a bad reputation for you within the community.

Ensuring you leave comments on early uploads will be highly successful.

TikTok’s algorithm places the earliest comments on a video at the top, meaning if you’re one of the first commenters, anyone who opens the comment section will see your profile at the top, once they check you out it's one of the ways to market your music.

Commenting on smaller influencer accounts will also push your account into the For You Page of their followers, meaning there is now double the chance that someone will find your account.

Hashtags

Hashtags are an easy way to categorize videos and sort them with similar content. Hashtags can be found by searching certain words or phrases in the app.

They can also trend, meaning many people are looking at them and videos uploaded to that hashtag are likely to be seen by a lot of people.

The ‘Trending’ tab in the app shows an updated list of popular hashtags, so make sure to take advantage of this. Many of the hashtags are often song-related.

They’re either about a certain trend, for example, #FakeTravel (using costumes to make it seem like users were in foreign parts of the world) which consisted of songs in foreign languages.

Alternatively, the song can remain constant and users make their content around that, for example. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish.

value of networking on TikTok

Another great feature of TikTok is how easily it allows for networking between content creators.

Doing a ‘duet’ with another user allows you to add to their content by adding your own, by creating a video format where you record your video on the left side of the screen with theirs on the right.

Duets are basically another word for collaborations, meaning the final product can be promoted to both parties’ audiences and both accounts can gain followers.

Doing duets with a user who makes content in a similar niche to you can be especially effective, as their followers will be interested in the same type of content as you.

Networking can also be done more directly, by messaging other creators with the in-app private messaging system.

You can build closer relationships with other users, and maybe even become friends with them.

Working with more well-known creators is a definitive way to grow your audience.

Perhaps the easiest way to gain recognition on TikTok is by migrating your followers from other apps over to your TikTok account.

Promoting your profile to any pre-existing Twitter and/or Instagram followers will almost guarantee an increase in numbers; fans are always eager to connect with you on different platforms given the opportunity.

Many of your fans may already have TikTok accounts, making the transition much easier.

HOW TIKTOK GROWS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

There are other ways to grow your TikTok profile outside of the app itself.

Many people who watch TikToks watch them via YouTube in compilations uploaded to the site.

Making your way into these compilations is a good way to become recognizable.

Reaching out to someone who creates and uploads these compilations can be a good way to secure a spot in their next video.

You can also upload your own videos onto other social media platforms so that they gain more exposure.

Creating your own compilation on YouTube will give you more subscribers and views on that platform, while also generating more buzz for your TikTok account.

Remember, any video that’s downloaded from TikTok comes with a watermark of the creator’s username, meaning that you will always receive credit if your videos are uploaded elsewhere.

paid promo on TikTok

If creating the TikTok content yourself doesn’t sound appealing, the app can still be a useful tool to pay to promote your music.

Paying influencers to promote your songs via challenges, lip-syncs, dances, and so on can be extremely beneficial and an effective way of quickly showing your music to hundreds of thousands of people.

TikTok influencers also generally have cheaper promotion rates than Instagram influencers, as of right now.

Giving influencers creative control over how they choose to promote your music will give them freedom, and also make them more likely to want to work with you again in the future.

Most influencers are reachable by Instagram direct messaging, and some may even have a business or management email you can contact.