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Music Marketing

How To Get Famous On TikTok: Our Guide For Indie Artists

Photograph of the blog post author, Music Gateway Team

Music Gateway Team

26.7.2023

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Out of the time spent glued to your phone, around 135 minutes are spent on social media apps. The positive relationship between the growth of media and our extensive use of smartphones is what makes these social media apps the perfect medium to advertise something. One of these popular apps is Tik Tok; something most of us are familiar with today. A commodity that is marketed heavily on TikTok is music from major and indie artists. Let’s take a look at how to get famous on TikTok! 

How To Get Famous On TikTok

In this article, we will take a look at how TikTok works, and then give our top tips on how to get famous on TikTok.

We know the money side of things is important, but exposure and widening your fanbase is just as key to you being a successful artist in the industry, and that is where TikTok Promotion really comes into its own.

Be sure to stick around until the very end so you don’t miss out on any key details!

How To Get Famous On TikTok For Indie Artists

How To Get Famous On TikTok

After Snapchat, TikTok is the newest social media app that has taken the world by storm.

So, How Does It Work?

TikTok was created initially as Musical.ly, the app that allows its users to lip-sync to popular songs on camera. Now TikTok is a much bigger social media platform, having embarked into the territory of dance videos, funny clips and more.

To date, it has been downloaded over 800 million times around the world. Currently, there are a reported 500 million-plus TikTok users!

TikTok is extremely popular with the younger generation. (41% of users are aged between 16-24, according to GlobalWebIndex in 2019). Due to the popularity of lip-syncing videos on the platform, it is a great way to make your song popular too. 

When used correctly, the application has the potential to make songs spread like wildfire and even go viral.

How To Get Famous On TikTok

So, how can you increase your profile as a musician or indie artist and be popular on TikTok? What can you do to make sure that your song is spread around the world? 

1. Become A Part Of The Community

How To Get Famous On TikTok

If you wish to benefit from the many advantages TikTok has to offer and want to know how to get famous on TikTok as an indie artist, then the first thing you need to do is join the community. 

Just go to the Google Play store on your phone if you use Android or the iOS App store if you have an Apple product and download the TikTok app. 

Once you have an account, you can now put up short, exciting videos and could become a name that people will recognise all over the world.

2. Tips On Getting Started

How To Get Famous On TikTok

There are some basic tips you need to follow to make sure your videos on TikTok look great and know more about how to get famous on TikTok as an indie artist!

The Only Way Is Up

All videos you upload to TikTok should be filmed or edited vertically. You need to remember that TikTok is made for phones, so everyone will have a vertical viewing experience.

Keep It Real

The fact that TikTok is a mobile experience means that people aren’t expecting the highest quality video productions, in fact, it could even put them off. Keep it authentic and simple, shoot with your phone and don’t add too many effects or edits.

Demand Attention

Make sure the start of your video is attention-grabbing enough to make people stop and watch. Then make sure to go out with a bang, making it more memorable and giving your audience the desire to come back for more.

Quality Over Quantity

TikTok is different from other social media platforms in that it doesn’t matter as much when you post. You just need to make sure that when your video is seen, it makes an impact.

Keep It Short

Even though TikTok gives you 60 seconds to work with, the ideal length is actually 10-17 seconds. This helps keep people’s interest and also makes it easier for people to reenact your video. This leads us on to the next tip quite nicely…

3. Start A Trend

How To Get Famous On TikTok

One of the quickest ways to become viral is by coming up with something that others will want to copy or try out for themselves. This can be in the form of a dance or challenge.

Do you remember the Kiki dance or the Git Up dance? If you do, this is proof that creating a memorable dance to your song will encourage others to copy it.

Challenges are another way to create interest. The objective here is to make a video of your song doing something interesting. After this, you should challenge your friends and family on the app to do the same, comparing who did it better.

Remember to use hashtags when starting a trend so that it’s easier to find and more likely to go viral. Then, once it is viral, it will be easier for you to keep track of and see what other people have made of it! 

On top of that, it will introduce others to your page that wasn’t even looking for your type of content.

If you want to start doing this and just need a bit of inspiration, make sure to check out the ‘For You’ feed. This is where most users find videos and where trends go viral.

4. If People Are Using Your Songs A Certain Way, Go Ahead And Do The Same!

Artist

Last but not least, if you’re a slightly more established artist, make sure to follow the trends that stem from your own songs!

Why Is This So Important? 

The world loves nothing more than to see an artist getting involved in trends that the public has created with their work.

When you post a video participating in a challenge, dance, or meme relating to your song, it is seen as giving approval and appreciating how audiences are responding to your music.

An example of this is when Justin Bieber made a TikTok video of his song ‘Paradise’ when he told people on TikTok that they were missing out on Heaven if they were not following him. 

As expected, the video became notorious and was soon shared on multiple platforms outside of TikTok.

In order to achieve this, you, first of all, need to make sure that you’ve uploaded your music to TikTok.

You might be curious how this can help your music career, aside from giving you the chance to go viral. That’s why we put together an article on ‘Does TikTok Pay You For Your Music?

How Long Does It Take To Get Famous On TikTok As A Musician?

This is very subjective to each artist’s career and it does depend on the amount of effort, time and determination you have. But maybe you feel inspired by this article and realise how advantageous this social media platform can be for your career. If you want to get famous on TikTok as an indie artist, you need to have consistent content to share with your followers and communicate with them on a regular basis. The more exposure you have on platforms that are used by people on a daily, there is more chance for your music to be shared to others in their hundreds, potentially in their thousands.

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Now You Know How To Get Famous On TikTok As A Musician

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Now you know everything about how to get famous on TikTok! TikTok is a wonderful way to promote your brand, especially if you’re in or linked to the music industry

Many stars have become famous on apps such as TikTok. The most prominent example of TikTok celebrities today is Baby Ariel and Jacob Sartorius. When used wisely, TikTok can open up the doors to a whole new world for a music artist.

Are you using TikTok yet? If so, what do you think and would you recommend the social media app to other artists – budding or experienced? 

If you want to discuss video and music promotion for TikTok or other online platforms like Spotify, YouTube and more, get in touch with our team! We take your music and pitch to leading TikTok influencers across the world. As long as your music is licensed with TikTok, we can pitch to get your music included in unique influencer video content. Once you’ve sent us your music, we can target trends, design a brief and rollout your music to the masses.

Here are articles on What Is TikTok, How To Get Verified On TikTok and Does TikTok Pay You For Your Music? to get you started!


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