How to Blow Up on TikTok as a Musician: A Guide to Viral Music Success

In 1973 Bruce Springsteen hand-delivered his song "Born to Run" to radio stations, begging for airplay. His persistence paid off when a Philadelphia DJ fell in love with it, sparking Springsteen's rise to stardom.

Bruce’s grassroots approach highlights how different the music industry was then, with limited channels and powerful gatekeepers controlling access to audiences.

Today, artists can instantly reach millions through streaming platforms and social media. While it's easier to release music, standing out among millions of musicians and artists on TikTok is the main challenge for the new generation.

Still, with trends, challenges, aesthetic videos and collaborations, even completely new music faces can make a breakthrough.

In this article, you'll get practical tips on how to blow up on TikTok, kickstart your music career, and achieve worldwide viral success.

Additionally, you'll learn more about SoundCampaign, one of the best TikTok music promotion services that connects musicians with curators and label owners.

Let's dive in!

Understand the TikTok Algorithm

To increase visibility and reach for your music, it's important to understand the TikTok algorithm. Let's explore how it works.

The "For You" page

Image source: @dhynsm

For You Page (FYP) is a personalized feed showing videos the app's algorithm picks based on users' interests and past interactions.

To get on the FYP and reach the right music fans:

• Post original music as well as covers of trending music
• Collaborate with popular TikTok musicians to showcase a new song
• Try out duets with new releases from artists close to your genre
• Leverage viral TikTok trends such as choreographies and filters
• Use relevant hashtags and captions to help new fans discover you.

Optimize Your TikTok Profile

Image source: @sarahbarrios

Profile basics

When creating a TikTok account, choose a memorable username and use it consistently on all other platforms or channels.

Your profile picture should reflect your brand and content. Whether you use a logo or a professional headshot, ensure it's a high-quality image.

To complete the basics, write an engaging bio that effectively captures your music style and personality. You can also include a call-to-action to direct users to your latest track or album.

Image source: @iamjordy

You can sign up for an artist's official TikTok account to get benefits like Music Tab activation, highlighting new songs, and marking tracks as new. This will alert your followers to check out your new release and get some initial traffic to your song quickly.

Aesthetic and branding

To succeed on TikTok, it is important to develop a consistent theme or brand aesthetic. It makes your content recognizable and helps retain your followers.

For instance, mxmtoon (@mxmtoon) is an indie pop artist who uses soft pastels and cozy, intimate settings in her videos to reflect the warm, introspective nature of her music.

Her personal, relatable approach to storytelling resonates with her fans and helps create a distinct brand on TikTok. That way, fans can relate to her on an emotional level, interacting deeply with her music.

On the other hand, Yungblud (@yungblud), has a punk-rock aesthetic and uses bold colors, rebellious imagery, and high-energy content to create a visually striking brand that perfectly matches the chaotic energy of his music.

Create Content That Engages

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Video creation tips

To create engaging TikTok videos with your music:

1. Shoot and edit them correctly
2. Ensure you use natural lighting, as it can significantly enhance the video quality
3. Pay attention to framing and choose effective backgrounds for your shots

If you're a musician on TikTok aiming to create viral content, storytelling can be a game-changer. Instead of just posting clips of your music, craft a narrative around your song—share the story behind the lyrics, document the songwriting process, or reveal personal moments that inspired the track.

For example, show the progression of a song from a rough demo to the final version, or tell a story of how a life experience shaped your music.

By adding an emotional arc or behind-the-scenes insight, your video becomes more engaging, making it more likely to be shared, liked, and help grow your fanbase.

Here are more technical tips on publishing videos with your own songs:

• Name your song - Linking your audio to a real song title makes it easier for listeners to know what they’re hearing. Instead of leaving the default audio tag, use the Artist - Song Title format to make your music easier to find.
• Let others use your songs - Add a simple note in your video saying you’re cool with fans using your music in their own content. This encourages people to include your track in their dance routines or other videos, helping your music spread.

Using trends and challenges

If you're looking for what's trending on TikTok, head to the 'Discover' page. However, merely using a trending hashtag won't suffice. When creating videos with your music, you must add a unique twist to stand out.

Challenges are calls to action that encourage creators to share content following a specific theme, concept, or set of rules. When trending, they can be beneficial in promoting your music.

Use a dance challenge to showcase how your sound and lyrics are perfect for a trending choreography. Or better yet, create a new challenge and ask your fan base to get creative when responding to your sound. That way, someone who used to just listen to your tunes is now inspired to be your partner in promoting your name.

Let’s take Ckay’s "Love Nwantiti" as an example. The song became a sensation on TikTok after a user, Tracy Joseph, created a dance routine for it.

This sparked the #LoveNwantitiChallenge, helping Ckay's song skyrocket to fame, despite it originally being a relatively unknown track. The song eventually became one of the top-selling African songs after its viral success on TikTok.

For example, if you are a singer, you can ask your audience to use lip sync features along with your music and share playful ideas on how they perceive your lyrics.

Collaborate for Wider Reach

Image source: Britannica

Finding the right TikTok influencers

When looking for influencers to promote your music, find ones that match your genre, mood, style and target audience. Look for authentic influencers who produce high-quality content, as they tend to have higher engagement rates.

Personalize your message to express interest and establish a genuine relationship when contacting potential collaborators. Moreover, other musicians on TikTok can advise you on how to break through, and if they appreciate your music, they can help you kickstart your career.

When Paul McCartney heard of Dominic Fike and his contribution to the alternative music scene, the idea of reimagining McCartney's song "The Kiss of Venus" was born. A new version became a pop hit and was promoted by The Late Late Show thanks to McCartney’s influence in the industry.

Some of the influencers you can reach out to for collaboration are mxmtoon, Disco Face, and Barbaramirezzz who can create a killer coreography for you if she digs your vibe.

Collaborative content ideas

Collaborating with influencers can be very beneficial. But how do you get influencers to feature your music in their content?

One way is to offer them exclusive songs or promote their videos on your channels. Alternatively, you can provide financial compensation. Either way, bear in mind that this type of collaboration is a two-way street.

However, manually reaching and contacting influencers can be a time-consuming process. To make it easier, you can use a music promotion platform like SoundCampaign.

It offers TikTok music promotion and allows you to create campaigns to reach over 5,700 TikTok creators who are ready to use your tracks in their videos.

Let's explain what SoundCampaign is and how it works.

Start a TikTok Campaign with SoundCampaign

SoundCampaign is a platform offering TikTok and Spotify promotion services. It has helped music artists worldwide by pitching their music to TikTok content creators, who use tracks in their videos, creating an opportunity for songs to go viral.

Every TikTok content creator working with SoundCampaign is hand-picked, manually reviewed, and approved by the team. You can be sure your track is in good hands.

According to the Trustpilot reviews, SoundCampaign has proven to be a helpful platform for numerous artists. With a partner like SoundCampaign, your TikTok videos can easily help skyrocket your music career.

How to create a TikTok campaign with SoundCampaign

After selecting the campaign type, SoundCampaign will email you with a link to start your campaign. Select the preferred genres and languages for your track.

Specify your campaign budget to estimate the number of videos that content creators can make to promote your song.

Provide any additional comments for the creators so they can create the video according to your expectations. If you want to leave everything up to the creators, you can skip this field.

However, if you have specific instructions, be clear and concise. With precise instructions, you can increase the likelihood of getting more views for your TikTok campaign.

After clicking Continue, select your payment method. Review your settings and click Confirm & Pay to complete your purchase. Your campaign will automatically start 48 hours after creation.

Experience the simplicity of SoundCampaign's intuitive UI for lightning-fast campaign creation.

Get your music viral on TikTok videos.

SoundCampaign benefits

If you're an independent music artist looking for a platform to promote your music, SoundCampaign could be the perfect choice.

With over 5,700 TikTok creators, your music can reach a wider audience. SoundCampaign has a manual moderation process for TikTok content creators, ensuring real people promote videos with your music.

The campaign setup process is also straightforward and suitable for non-tech-savvy users.

You can expect to get results in the first few days of your campaign, and you'll have access to live support throughout the process.

The pricing is affordable, starting at $200 per TikTok campaign.

Finally, the Artist Protection Program guarantees a refund if a content creator fails to review your song.

Get your song in TikTok influencer videos.

Use Hashtags Strategically

Image source: TikTok

Trending vs. niche hashtags

Hashtags are an essential part of the content discovery process and TikTok success. There are two types of hashtags: popular hashtags that are trending at a given moment and niche hashtags that are more specific to the content you create.

To achieve success on TikTok, you should use a combination of both trending and niche hashtags. This approach will help you balance reaching a wider audience and engaging with niche fans who are more likely to appreciate your content.

For example, Powfu (@pow.fu), a Canadian lo-fi artist, gained popularity thanks to his song "Death Bed (Coffee for Your Head)".

It went viral on TikTok largely thanks to the hashtag #sleepy, associated with chill, relaxing, and lo-fi content, perfectly aligning with Powfu’s music style. Users began creating videos using the song with this hashtag, and it became a trend on the platform.

What else can you learn from Powfu? He keeps his followers engaged with a bunch of behind-the-scenes content that gains a lot of attention and likes.

Discover the best hashtags for your content by using TikTok's search function and the 'Discover' page.

Creating a branded hashtag

You can use this type of hashtag for marketing purposes to enhance brand recall, aggregate campaign content, and build a community around your music. An effective branded hashtag should be unique, short and memorable. Avoid generic terms.

After releasing her hit song "Savage," Megan Thee Stallion started the #SavageChallenge hashtag, encouraging users to create their own dance routines to her track. The challenge went viral, with millions of TikTok users, including celebrities, joining in on the trend. This branded hashtag not only boosted the song’s popularity but also significantly increased Megan’s visibility on the platform.

Or better yet, a star of TikTok music - Lil Nas X, became popular when he uploaded "Old Town Road".

Users created videos using the song with the hashtag #YeehawChallenge, featuring cowboy-themed content. This viral trend spread rapidly, bringing him popularity on multiple social media channels, while he topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 consecutive weeks, the longest run in history.

Encourage User-Generated Content

Image source: Bazaarvoice

Challenges and dances

To engage fans with challenges and dances on TikTok, the most important step is to keep it simple and catchy. Here are other important notes:

• Start with an already trending TikTok sound
• Ask other artists to participate and create their TikTok videos
• Use a funny, catchy hashtag
• Add interactive elements, like duets, remixes, or call-to-actions
• Like, comment, or duet videos that use your hashtag

Lance Savali had fun preparing a #somecutchallenge group dance, and used this trending hashtag to keep the audience engaged while they were waiting for his next tour.

Engaging with participants

Remember to leave personalized comments on videos featuring your music as a sign of appreciation. Additionally, sharing these videos can encourage the creation of more content.

You can also organize live sessions on TikTok or create follow-up videos to show praise for your favorite long videos. Over time, these actions can help build an engaged community of fans who will interact with you and each other in the comments sections, hashtag pages, and live streams, boosting your reach.

Damoyee is leveraging TikTok Live section to share the real-life experience of creating her music. She features live bloopers to introduce authenticity to her audience and frequently interacts with the listeners in the comment section.

Use The Right Posting Strategy

Image source: Kontentino

Timing your posts

You need to pay attention to the time you post your content to ensure it receives maximum visibility. TikTok analytics can help by delivering insights into when your followers are most active on the app.

Track your posts' performance regularly and adjust your timing strategy to increase engagement and reach.

Consistency is key

Stay on top of your audience's mind. Set a regular schedule for your content, whether daily, every other day, or a few times a week. This will help you maintain visibility and engagement with your audience.

Create a content calendar. It will help you avoid last-minute scrambling for post ideas and give you the time to prepare and refine your content.

Engage with the TikTok Community

Image source: TikTok

Interaction techniques

It is important to respond promptly, authentically and personally to followers to make them feel valued. This means avoiding generic responses. Interacting with other users' content is equally important, as TikTok's algorithm favors accounts that actively engage with others.

The power of Stitch and Duet features

Duet is a feature that lets you play two videos simultaneously in either side-by-side or picture-in-picture formats. Your video must be the same length as the original and use its audio. This feature is perfect for collaborating, reacting in real-time, and creating musical interactions.

Stitch is a feature that lets users add five seconds of someone else's video to their own. It's useful for adding comments and information or continuing conversations. Users can also record their voiceover for the stitched video.

If you're skeptical about the usefulness of TikTok Duets, check out Stacey Ryan's collaboration with Zai1k, which has garnered hundreds of millions of views.

Another example is Sam Ryder, who gained popularity by covering trending songs and incorporating his unique, falsetto-driven style.

Cross-Promote on Other Social Media Platforms

Image source: Billboard

Integrating TikTok with your social media strategy

When promoting your TikTok content on other social media platforms, it's advisable to share short videos or highlights and include direct links to your TikTok profile to make other videos accessible.

Additionally, you can share TikTok-related updates and behind-the-scenes content with background music, and use trending hashtags to increase your chances of being discovered.

Collaborating with other creators across different platforms is also an effective way to promote your TikTok music.

For example, Clinton Kane started by posting covers and original songs on YouTube and TikTok, which attracted a large following. Chelsea Cutler, already known for her success on social media platforms, noticed Kane’s talent on TikTok.

They collaborated by sharing each other’s music on Instagram and Twitter, cross-promoting their content on these platforms to increase visibility and engage with a wider audience.

Leveraging existing fan bases

If you want to run contests or challenges on other platforms, you can ask your fans to follow or engage with you on TikTok to participate. You can also use your email list and website to promote your TikTok content.

Share exclusive previews, behind-the-scenes videos, or announcements of TikTok-only campaigns on platforms where you have the most followers.

Analyze Your Performance and Adapt Your Strategy

Image source: TikTok

With TikTok analytics, you can access valuable data on engagement levels, brand interest, and other metrics, allowing you to adjust your strategy accordingly.

The key metrics are:

• Video views
• Follower growth
• Profile views
• Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Average watch time
• Completion rate

TikTok analytics provides relevant information about your audience's demographics: gender, age, and geographical distribution. To access analytics data, you'll need a free TikTok Business Account.

Once activated, you'll find the analytics data in the settings under the "Account" section.

Engagement metrics

Understanding and leveraging TikTok's key metrics is essential to increase your content's reach.

These metrics are:

• Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Watch-time

Analyzing the above key engagement metrics lets you determine which content works well and which needs improvement. Use these insights to refine each TikTok video you publish.

Beware: Low engagement doesn't necessarily mean that the audience dislikes your song or your music in general. TikTok audience evaluates the whole video and context, so tracking these metrics can be super useful in making you heard.

If your shares are low, inspire the viewers to use your song in their videos. Push catchy, loopy sections of your track, handy for dancing and storytelling.

For more comments on your videos, insert cheeky captions and ask questions directly in the video. To those comments that inspire you, reply publicly with another creative video like @altimelow does in their posts.

Conclusion on How to Blow Up on TikTok as a Musician

If you're a music artist looking to make it big on TikTok, success is within your reach. The key is to create engaging content, use effective posting strategies and hashtags, build a strong community, and collaborate with the right people to boost your brand.

While becoming a TikTok star is difficult, remaining true to yourself and enjoying the creative process is vital. By creating music with genuine passion and implementing the strategies we've discussed, you'll be well on your way to achieving your music goals.

If you're eager to collaborate with genuine TikTok creators to help your music go viral, consider signing up for SoundCampaign.

With live support, affordability, excellent results, and an artist protection program, SoundCampaign can help you easily streamline the process and achieve your goals faster.

Get your song in TikTok influencer videos.

FAQs on How to Blow Up on TikTok

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