I can’t believe that I am endorsing TikTok. I swore that I would avoid this platform like the plague, but when you see the doors that succeeding on TikTok opens for musicians, well, it’s hard to deny.

I know, you have been told the same thing that we all have, that TikTok is a Chinese spy machine gathering our data, and that may be true, but keep in mind that it’s the other American platforms already stealing and profiting off your data that are doing most of the complaining, and you can do with that information what you will.

You must have heard of a band called Bad Omens? This is just one band of many that has skyrocketed to fame through the attention their TikTok posts captured. There is another band benefiting from the ole TikTok algorithm, and that would be a mysterious band by the name of Sleep Token. I was listening to Sleep Token back when they had just over 350 followers and no one had any idea of just how great they were, and they are crushing so hard on TikTok right now that their fanbase is going to expand globally, faster than most indie musicians, because the numbers on TikTok don’t lie: people love to share the music they love on TikTok more than any other platform.

I want to tell you exactly how to crush it on TikTok, I really do, and I think that I have some key insights do to the time I put in for our clients, but to be clear, I avoided this platform for so long that I am also discovering new things about it daily.

So, what are some of those things that I have learned? Here are a few posts that have been proven to capture new listeners in great numbers for indie artists of all genres.

  1. INTRODUCTION POST: Posts that are aimed at introducing your music directly to the viewer are a great way to reach your audience about you and your music in an authentic and informative way. Tell them who you are, a bit about why you make the music that you do and share a clip of your music at the end.
  2. LIVE MUSIC IN A STRANGE PLACE POST: People are being hit with new information all the time and one must be creative in their visuals to stop someone while scrolling. I have found myself stopping at artists playing music in front of a busy LA highway, in front of a field full of cows, near the most beautiful stream, and more. Play your music but play it somewhere interesting.
  3. POSTS MEANT TO STITCH: I am sure that you have a catchy song with a chorus just begging for a duet. Well, make a post with the intention of having others join you, and if you have some cash in your pocket, why not make it a competition post, and whoever sings your song the best gets the prize.
  4. UNDENIABLY EMOTIONAL POSTS: Emotion equals motion, and the motion you want to create in others is being active with your content on social media, and the best way to do this is to create posts that force an emotional reaction. Posting a song clip with no context is the lazy way to do it, but if your song is about that person who ripped your heart out way back in the day and how you are happy, they did, then put those words into context for the listener before they even hit play. Something like “I’m so glad that I met you so that I could leave you.” Would bring some people to your cause.

No, this article was not endorsed by TikTok, and I am not saying that your information isn’t being collected either, but then I am sure that you already gave away your info to a few others already, so why not take a chance on a platform that seems to favor music over everything else, right?

There are many more things to consider when posting on TikTok, and it is a platform that is still very active and free to gain views fast. It has not been put under a paywall like many of the others just yet, so it isn’t rare to see a post you put up an hour ago gain hundreds of views without paying a dime.

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