Discovering and sharing music is easier
than ever with TikTok. The app is a social media platform where users create
short videos with new and popular music or sounds of their own. Since TikTok’s
start, the app has been known to foster so many of the trends we see,
especially with music.
Often
the songs that become popular on TikTok have some sort of dance or trend
attached to them. The secret formula for a viral hit song is to make a short
and simple dance routine to a portion of the song. However, the song and
dance/trend must connect with the audience enough to make them want to carry on
the trend. This seems to happen by pure luck, but the danceability and
catchiness of a song definitely play a large role in the popularity.
REENTERING THE CHARTS
While
TikTok has been a great way to debut a new song, oftentimes songs that were
released decades ago reenter the charts because they became part of a popular
trend on the app. In September 2020, user @420doggface208 shared a video of him
skateboarding and drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice while listening to
“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. This song found its way onto the Billboard Hot 100
again, more than 40 years after its initial release.
RISE TO FAME
Many
music artists have gotten their big break on TikTok, similar to how YouTube
used to help new artists get discovered. Most notably, rapper/singer Lil Nas X
quickly climbed to fame after he shared his song, “Old Town Road”, on the app
in 2019. The song went viral shortly after and reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, maintaining that position for weeks. Other users began using
his song to make and share videos on the app. Lil Nas X’s career got a
jumpstart overnight because of one video on TikTok.
Fame
can happen in a matter of hours. Artists can debut a song on the app and
attract the attention of millions of users. TikTok is now an efficient method
of discovering new artists and boosting traffic to smaller and lesser-known
artists.
Other
notable artists that have been discovered on TikTok include 24kGolden, Tai
Verdes, Arizona Zervas, and more recently, Olivia Rodrigo. A former Disney
Channel star, Rodrigo’s song “Drivers License” went viral after one TikTok user
created a trend to the song that mimics part of the music video. Other users
jumped on the trend and created videos of their own, and then big creators
joined the trend as well. This snowball effect led to Rodrigo becoming a
chart-topping artist, which helped pave the way to more number one songs after
the May release of her album, Sour.
THE SECRET FORMULA
So what is the secret formula for a viral
hit song on TikTok? Trends come and go faster than ever, and TikTok is somewhat
responsible for this acceleration.
With that being said, this is the formula
for having a song go viral on TikTok:
Danceability
+ Innovation + Catchy Lyrics - Effort = Viral Song
Let’s
break this down further.
DANCEABILITY
A
good beat is always important for any song, but if you want your song to have a
trending dance connected to it, it must be a beat people can dance to. Dances
on TikTok are often more simple than other types of dances. This is because
most people that participate in these dancing trends may not have any dance
skills like the professionals. Therefore, the dance must be able to be done by
a variety of people.
On
the other hand, some songs go viral for trends that aren’t necessarily
dance-related. If a song doesn’t have a high danceability score, it must make
up for that in another portion of the formula.
INNOVATION/REINVENTING
People
want to hear something they haven’t heard before. Keeping things fresh and
exciting will almost always produce positive results. This may seem like an
obvious part of the formula, but it is easier said than done.
Throwback
songs have also been part of viral trends, so reinventing older songs counts as
innovation.
CATCHY LYRICS
Along
with being able to dance to a song, people like to sing to songs as well. When
lyrics are easy to relate to, audiences sing along and feel connected to the
song.
Catchy
lyrics that people can relate to and also lyrics that depict specific actions
work as well. For example, a line in “Say So” by Doja Cat says, “no punches
left to roll with, you got to keep me focused,” and the dance moves to this
song quite literally match the lyrics. A soft punching move transitions into a
rotation of both arms rolling over one another is then followed by extending
arms out in front of the body with both index fingers and thumbs pointed out
with thumbs touching, resembling the focus screen of a camera.
EFFORT
Music
is always a hit or miss. Nowadays it seems like a portion of pop songs are made
specifically for TikTok, with lyrics that directly correlate to dance moves.
But what songs become trending totally depends on if the right audience picks
it up. Trends can’t be forced, and sometimes songs may underperform simply
because they seem to be working too hard to get a trend started. Trying without
looking like you are trying is more or less the way to approach this.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE SECRET...
Whether
you are creating a song that you want to go viral, or just curious about how it
happens, you now have access to the secret formula and should proceed with
caution. It takes skill and craftiness to execute the formula properly. TikTok
and its users are a powerhouse and have the ability to make or break the future
of a song.
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