Can a Viral TikTok Song Jumpstart Your Successful Music Career?

Most people think you’re instantly successful if you go viral on a platform like TikTok. But can a viral TikTok song make you a music superstar?

Sometimes it happens on purpose, sometimes it’s a total accident, but music goes super-viral on TikTok all the time. If just one major influencer uses your clip, your music could be heard worldwide in minutes. It’s a very cool experience and a fun memory to look back on for some. But others hope to use their viral TikTok song as a launching pad to a successful music career. Is that even a remote possibility?

It turns out the app is completely revolutionizing the way record labels work, and giving artists more leverage than ever.

Before answering the question, we have to look at the data, right? Fortunately for us, this is precisely what The Pudding and Vox did and what they found was pretty interesting. There is a direct correlation between TikTok and Spotify. Once a viral song hits, TikTok users will quickly jump to Spotify to listen in full. The more the song is added to Spotify playlists by TikTok users, the more likely it will be added to popular curated lists like New Music Friday, making it accessible to non-TikTok users. Because of the influence of Spotify on the music industry, and because TikTok makes up a good chunk of the new artists going viral on Spotify, labels are watching for rising stars on TikTok every day.