I’ve been writing some articles recently about how local music artists could be more exposed through different online platforms. Through that, I found that it can be really difficult to find local artists through online platforms because you have to go out of your way to find them. Platforms like Spotify can be useful, but there are still different ways they could improve in helping find local music artists.
But I think there is one platform that has the potential to help create more exposure to B.C music artists. That platform being TikTok. Something I’ve noticed over the past few years is how TikTok has the ability to blow up songs. A song from the 90s could suddenly be getting a ton of streams simply because it’s being used in a TikTok trend.
Cottonbro Studio / Pexels
We have even seen a bunch of smaller artists get bigger because of TikTok a band like Glass Animals is a good example because they weren’t really that big a while ago, but then their song Heat Waves blew up on TikTok and now they’re pretty well known.
So maybe TikTok has the potential to help local music artists grow and get more exposure. This could be simply from user-generated content. I have found a ton of great songs from TikTok because creators suggested them or were playing the song in the video. You can also find very niche music genres a lot more easily on TikTok than you can on many other music platforms. Using hashtags can help creators content get put into people’s algorithms so maybe this is a tool that could be used for local music artists.
So how could music artists in B.C use TikTok to help brand their music? Well, I think they could start off by showing off little snippets of their music on TikTok and getting it out to the world. Using hashtags can help them get more views on their videos and people could hear their music more easily. They could use TikTok as a tool to help get more exposure to their music and sometimes it can garner a lot of viewership.
@camblakemusic #fyp #newmusic #vancouvermusic #indiemusic #independentartist #artistsoftiktok #findnewmusic
The only downside to this is the music artist needs to know how to use TikTok and how to create engaging content. It’s much easier said than done but I feel like if they are able to do it effectively then TikTok can be a great tool for local music artists.
Many local music artists deserve more attention and maybe TikTok is the way to do that. The app gives users the platform to show off their music so maybe it should be utilized more. And let’s be honest here, you already spend a ton of time on TikTok, so you might as well find some great local artists while you’re on there.