It’s Time to Talk about TikTok
Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” went viral on TikTok earlier this year
January 9, 2023
There is no denying that TikTok has irreversibly changed the music industry. TikTok relies on artists and their music to create trends like Beyonce’s “Cuff It” dance challenge and AJR’s “World’s Smallest Violin” art progress challenge to boost engagement within the app. It’s not uncommon for people to recognize music from TikTok trends rather than from the title or artist itself.
Despite this, TikTok’s algorithm often harms rather than helps independent musicians.
“Artists are encouraged to ride on whatever made them popular and don’t usually try to make a name for themselves outside of that,” said SEGA senior Jon Vital, an AP Music Theory student. “It’s very easy for one lucky sound to get viral off of TikTok and for everybody to know the artist behind it just from that one song, but this creates a lot more one-hit wonders.”
TikTok’s algorithm is designed to always be looking for “the next big thing.” While this is good for keeping up engagement within the app, it’s difficult for small and independent artists to keep up with. By the time artists release a new song, the algorithm has already moved on. It also pushes artists into a corner, creativity wise. Usually only one or two songs from an artist go viral, so the artist ends up being type-cast into one music genre. As a result, they are not encouraged to branch out and try new things.
“I think it’s good for finding new music but it’s bad for the sustainability of an artist,” said Vital.
TikTok is here to stay, both for better and for worse. Artists will have to adjust to the algorithm’s learning curve to some degree if they want to retain their popularity and increase their reach. But as with every social media, there’s room for good-faith critique on how it operates and its effects on consumers and creators. For the sake of its artists, TikTok should reconsider the speed of their algorithm cycles and decide on how they can best sustain artists in the long term.
Jacob W Hirdler • Feb 23, 2023 at 1:03 pm
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s time to talk about
TikTok.” The article talks about how TikTok is affecting the music industry and its effects on independent music creators. I do agree with your claim that TikTok’s algorithm does harm independent music creators. For the amount of time that I have watched TikTok, music artists would create a song that would become viral and gain attraction to their account. But, this would only bring instant growth for the creator and would not last in the long term. The viewers would only recognize the artist as from the one viral song they made, not as anything else. This also means that their relevance on the internet would also diminish as soon as the song is no longer viral. Then, the music creator would try to replicate the thing that made them popular, which would make them start to lose the people that originally came to see their music since they no longer liked their music. Also, the TikTok algorithm would be trying to get views on things that are popular, which means that it would repeatedly show videos with that music. Then after repeatedly listening to the same song for a while would start to become annoying, which would make some viewers become resentful of the music artist for creating that music. Thank you for introducing me to this problem in TikTok.
Sincerely,
Jacob Hirdler
Evan Murray • Feb 23, 2023 at 10:25 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote the article “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. The article describes TikTok’s effect on music and what it does to new and upcoming artists in the industry. They mention trends that’ll boost a song’s popularity and because of this the artist becomes pressured into keep making music similar to the “trendy” song. Wilson interviews a student who mentions one-hit wonders, this I think isn’t very true and that the opposite of what they’re talking about is actually what’s occurring. In the article there is a picture of Steve Lacy on tour for his “Give You the World Tour”. Steve Lacy recently did have a song “Bad Habit” go viral on TikTok, however, he had already been much popular before with songs like “Dark Red” or “N Side”. After the song had gone viral as a single, the album was released with many other songs that skyrocketed the charts due to his growing fanbase on TikTok. Overall I thought that this article was a good touch on one side of music on TikTok and that maybe if the other side was given as a context it would make more sense to people who are unfamiliar with the social media app.
Sincerely,
Evan Murray, Grade 11
Lucia Thomas • Feb 9, 2023 at 1:45 pm
On January 9, 2023 Rebecca Wilson wrote an article entitled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” The article talks about how Tiktok should reconsider their algorithm as artists are making more “one-hit wonders” instead of sustaining their music career for the long term. I completely agree with Rebecca as artists like Steve Lacy have only been recognized for their one-hit that went viral on tiktok. However, I think that it is good for an artist to become recognized even though it is just for a viral song or part of a song because if someone truly does love that song, they might look more into the artist and become a fan. I don’t completely agree with the statement said by a SEGA senior about how artists don’t usually try to make a name for themselves outside of what made them popular because even though artists usually ride on whatever makes them popular, most artists try to encourage more of their songs to get a bigger fan base. I think that this article is good because it makes more young teens aware of how hard artists work and how even though their song blew up on a social media app such as tiktok, they can have more songs that are good to listen to instead of the one that was popular.
Sincerely,
Lucia Thomas Grade 11
Nina Mungcal • Feb 9, 2023 at 12:02 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled, “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” The article addresses the issue that TikTok’s algorithm has posed as a challenge for independent artists, as they rely on the music that gained popularity to sustain their careers. This article stood out to me, as I’ve been using the app since 2019. Over the years, I’ve noticed the trends and their length. More recently, the songs that are trending on TikTok are favored by the algorithm, which poses a problem for small artists. The algorithm plays certain sounds or songs so much that it is easier than ever for songs to gain and lose hype quickly. Connecting back to the article, this proves that there is indeed a reason for concern about TikTok’s algorithm. If the algorithm rejects the song or doesn’t favor it, artists may feel forced to make music to appeal to social media users, rather than make music as a reflection of themselves. This is concerning, as music is an outlet for most artists, and if they don’t receive the amount of attention they had hoped to receive, they may feel discouraged and produce music that lacks their own creative flair. Personally, I really enjoyed reading this article because it is very relevant and puts things into a new perspective for TikTok users when following trends. I will definitely be more aware of trending songs and will give the music of independent artists a listen, rather than just listening to what’s trending.
Sincerely,
Nina Mungcal, Grade 11
Metztli Lopez • Feb 7, 2023 at 9:00 pm
I have also noticed how Tik Tok has the tendency to push forward very short snippets of songs, and although they go viral it is not always in the best interest of the artist. I do think it may be helpful to provide specific instances in which the longevity of an artist has been harmed by going TikTok viral, such as instances when by the time an artist is ready to put forward music the interest in their music has dissipated. Additionally, including a bit more of a counterargument and information from social media experts could aid in making an even more persuasive argument. I would love to hear more about just how much Tik Tok has changed the music space, maybe providing more context on the images shown, tying Tik Tok success to short-lived chart success. Overall, social media and technology are rapidly changing every aspect of the world we live in from the music industry to academia. I hope to see The Corydon cover more relevant topics like this.
Devon Fletcher • Feb 2, 2023 at 11:27 pm
The article mentions the beneficial and hurtful effects of Tiktok’s algorithm on the music industry. Just as stated, “It’s great for finding new music, but it’s bad for the sustainability of an artist.” It makes sense that artists could make one popular song and become stuck. Artists could become trapped as a one-hit wonder or in a genre that is to be expected only due to one song. Coming from someone who has never had Tiktok before, it is amazing to see the impact Tiktok trends have on what music is popular. I find myself recognizing songs that have gone viral or even catching certain songs replaying on the radio. It never takes long before I realize that it is a song that has previously gone viral on Tiktok. This goes to show that even radio stations are keeping up with the fast-paced algorithms and song popularity. As a solution, you mention changing the algorithm cycles’ speeds. I’m not familiar with how apps or algorithms work, could you elaborate on what Tiktok’s algorithm is and how changing it would help? Thank you for explaining this consequence of Tiktok on the musical industry, it is something I had merely realized subconsciously.
Sincerely,
Devon Fletcher, Grade 11
Sofia Gonzalez • Feb 2, 2023 at 11:02 pm
On January 9, 2023, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk About TikTok.” The article discusses the influence the TikTok algorithm has had on artists, and how it especially limits smaller creators. Before reading this article, I had only known a small amount about how TikTok’s algorithm harms small artists, and had never given much thought to it. However, this article went more in depth about its effects. If a song that gained popularity through TikTok played on the radio, there are many who wouldn’t know anything more than the viral 15 second clip. This goes to prove Wilson’s point, that many people don’t listen to anything more than the 15 seconds they are already familiar with. The issue with TikTok is that it introduces people to only a fraction of an artist’s work, and that artist usually doesn’t get much more recognition. A part of their song may become popular, but anything more than the viral 15 seconds usually isn’t as well known, especially if they have more songs. The increase in “one hit wonders” is a double-edged sword: a small artist may get some more recognition, but they are only known for one specific thing.
Jonah Gonzalez • Feb 2, 2023 at 3:48 pm
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. The article summarizes the effects of social media on the music industry, and focuses on the newer program TikTok. I appreciate that the author mentions that TikTok has led people to “recognize music from TikTok trends rather than from the title or artist itself”, as it is an idea that I have witnessed in my daily life. It is not to my surprise that this is an effect created through TikTok’s use, and I’d like to add that a possible cause for this phenomenon is that users sometimes fail to credit original songs in their edits, stitches, and duets. This leads to many knowing the melody, but not the title or artist. While apps such as Shazam attempt to solve this problem, they fail to list song names and authors when presented with a sped up or slowed down version— commonly seen throughout the platform. Jon Vital’s statement “everybody knows the artist behind it just from that one song, but this creates a lot more one-hit wonders” calls forth another perspective on a major impact to the music industry. I enjoy that you added another student’s perspective, as it shows that others are already aware of this ongoing trend. As a suggestion, I think there should be more elaboration on the pictures selected— some information on both artists Conan Gray and Steve Lacy could add to this perspective. It is unclear to me as to why those two are included specifically, as I am not very versed in the subject. Thank you for teaching me about how the media interacts with music.
Kylan Harvey • Feb 2, 2023 at 9:51 am
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 9th, Rebecca Wilson, wrote an article named “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. The article talks about how TikTok creates more “one hit wonders” because of the algorithm TikTok uses, so by the time the artist releases the song or drops other music it doesnt do as well, so artists are backed into a corner to create more music that sounds the same. This is something that I can completely agree with because when you listen to the sounds and the music used, everyone sounds the same and it’s hard to find variety. I also wanted to commend the editor of this article. Wilson was able to create an informative article by giving us an educated interview with another student in the AP Music Theory program. While reading the article I started to ask myself questions like how exactly does the algorithm work exactly? Another question I had is, is it TikTok or the Artists? Because although there are a lot of one hit wonders, there’s also people who just work extremely hard and make it. Some examples of these artists could be, Yeat, Autumn, Summrs, YNW Melly, and so many more. In all, this was an amazing article and was a very easy read. Good job and thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kylan Harvey, Grade 11
Sofia Duarte • Feb 1, 2023 at 11:32 am
February 1 202
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 19, Rebecca WIlson published an article titled “It’s Time to talk about TikTok”. The article mentions the impact and the harm that TIkTok has done on the music industry and its individual artists. I would definitely be interested in knowing more about the collaboration between the music industry and TikTok, and be given a couple of examples of the two working together.. While reading this, I was especially intrigued that some of the artists that I listen to now have fallen into that trap. Some things I question now after reading your article are, what is the TikTok algorithm cycle? How does TikTok control what is shown on the “for you page”? What type of music goes viral the most? I just love this article because a lot of my music taste has developed through TikTok, and I didn’t know it did harm to the artists. Overall I think your article was a great straight forward read, and it will definitely help people do more research on the artists they find through the app. Awesome job, keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Sofia Duarte, Grade 11
Elle Lundahl • Feb 1, 2023 at 11:23 am
The article recognizes the changes TikTok has made to the music industry as artists and their songs go viral on the app. It is further explained that TikTok’s algorithm is designed in a way that makes it extremely difficult for small, independent artists to gain the same popularity as famous singers who have previously been recognized through the app. I previously completed a research project that studied the relation between social conformity, mainstream music, and peer pressure. As TikTok makes certain songs and artists more popular, adolescents often experience pressures from peers to conform to these mainstream music trends. Although TikTok has contributed to the fame of once underground artists and musicians, it has also driven many into a confined, creative corner— forcing these artists to try to predict what will be popular by the time a song is released. TikTok is a resource that is also often used by adolescents as a “blueprint” for what is popular and trendy, which is then used to fit into different social situations that lead to conformity and alteration of one’s identity. TikTok has various benefits for the teens using it and the artists promoting their work through the app, but there are many extreme drawbacks.
Marley Ponce De Leon • Feb 1, 2023 at 10:56 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” I enjoyed this article because it talks about how TikTok has changed the music industry. This is a thought I have lingered on for quite some time now and feel very strongly about. At one point in the article, it is mentioned that artists now cater to what would become popular on TikTok to gain popularity. This is making the music that is being produced, in my opinion, generic and doesn’t leave room for smaller artists with different types of sounds to succeed. Although many of the songs that blow up on the app aren’t anything mind blowing, I agree that the fast moving pace of the TikTok algorithm doesn’t allow for these new artists to gain a stable platform. One point not talked about in the article is that TikTok’s fleeting obsession with certain songs or people have ruined concerts. For example, Matty Healy of The 1975 gained some popularity on TikTok and now there are a lot of people going to their concerts just to take videos, possibly making it harder for real fans or people that are genuinely interested in trying to get more into their music to get tickets. I think it would be very interesting to see an article written about this as well.
Justin Kawamoto • Feb 1, 2023 at 10:55 am
On January 9, 2023, Rebecca Wilson wrote the article ¨It’s Time to Talk About TikTok¨. This article talks about how the TikTok algorithm pushes out the smaller music creators on the app. Rebecca argues that the cycle in which TikTok pushes out viral videos is too fast for smaller creators to keep up with the pace and eventually fall off due to the algorithm searching for more viral videos. While I do agree that smaller creators should have a better chance to gain recognition for their work and possibly go viral, TikTok isn’t a platform that has ever been very forgiving to small artists at all. The app was not designed to be similar to Spotify or Soundcloud where artists could have space to make fame, but it was designed to keep viewership high and push out engaging videos. Music generally is only engaging to the few who enjoy the certain genre which is why TikTok pushes those videos out in favor of ones that are controversial or ones that maintain high levels of viewership across multiple genres. Even though Tikok isn’t forgiving in nature, small artists can still become more reachable by having the stamina to keep posting videos that tease the music or find controversial ways to push out their music. Small artists can make TikTok more tameable by continuous stamina towards posting videos and slowly increasing viewership over the long run. Either way thank you for shedding light on the struggles of small artists and their fight to become more popular in the age of TikTok.
Amelia Haberland • Feb 1, 2023 at 9:37 am
Let me start by stating that I do sympathize with these musicians who try so hard to get famous but end up either being a one-hit wonder like the song “Pass the Dutchie” by Musical Youth or songs that nobody even knows the band who created it in the first place like “TWINNEM” by Coi Leray. That being said, I don’t believe that this is in fact all, or even mostly TikTtok’s fault. Sure, the algorithm, set by Tik Tok management boosts up popular music but the only reason these songs are popular is because people like them. Whether they’re actually good songs or it just fits with whatever people are trying to show in the video portion (like “Oh No” by Kreepa is usually used when something bad is about to happen in the video), the people like them. Additionally, there’s another reason why these new artists aren’t getting as much attention as they thought they would…they’re all the same song! It’s a difficult time we’re living in for the music industry when there’s no more inventive music, like how Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley brought up rock and roll and…whoever else invented rap. But if you want to be successful, you need to stand out; Many of these unsuccessful artists don’t seem to be aware of that. Regardless of if it’s because of popularity or similarity to other songs, Tik Tok is not to be fully blamed for new coming artists being unsuccessful.
Ryan Cuffaro • Feb 1, 2023 at 9:22 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” The article talks about TikTok’s impact on the music industry and on small and independent artists. As a person who spends many hours a day scrolling on TikTok, this article intrigued me. Before reading this article, I wasn’t aware that TikTok harms independent artists. I figured that most of them would support it because it creates a platform for them to display their music on. I would like to agree with the part that a lot of artists go viral and become one-hit wonders and would like to add that they only gain temporary fame in my opinion. Yes, their one song that went viral will give them some popularity for a period of time, but after a while, it will become overplayed. Most people will get tired of it which makes it hard for the artist to sustain this relevance. I also like how you included a solution in the last paragraph for artists to adapt to TikTok’s algorithm because it will be interesting to see if this is what will actually happen. Overall, I think this article was very informative and well chosen and I am looking forward to seeing how independent artists choose to move forward when it comes to TikTok.
Kai Yamamoto • Feb 1, 2023 at 9:13 am
The article addresses the harms of music artists who are trying to make a brand for themselves on this social media platform. For anyone who is a frequent user of Tik Tok, they would know this app is constantly changing in trends and styles. Ms. Wilson is opening the discussion to recognize smaller music artists. She interviews a student who is a Senior taking AP Music Theory. As an experienced musician, this student understands the problem of competing with popular music trends and not being able to explore other types of music genres. The audience likes one particular sound, creating a risk factor for the artists to try out different genres. Ms. Wilson elaborates on this issue and how this makes the artist confined to one type of music, limiting themselves. The article was well written, however, it could be worth it to talk to a small music artist themselves to get their opinion on the matter. Tik Tok allows messaging, perhaps you might want to contact a small music artist for a short conversation about their circumstance. Ms. Wilson worked on bringing attention to this ongoing problem, now there just needs to be change.
Ashley Oelmann • Feb 1, 2023 at 9:11 am
The article mentions how TikTok harms rather than benefits independent upcoming artists. As an example, in personal experience, I would like to add on to the statement of how it harms artists. One artist, 070 Shake, made a song called “Escapism,” which became viral on TikTok and reels on Instagram, for only like a month and a half. This is only one song from hers that became viral, while she has other songs that are equally if not better than that song. Her snip-bit of Escapism was popular, yet many doesn’t know the artist’s name. Prior to the article, I have somewhat of an understanding of how TikTok is harder for artists, but I used to think that this platform would be easier to reach out to the younger generation, which is only partly true. “‘I think it’s good for finding new music but it’s bad for the sustainability of artist.”’ Going back on my example, 070 Shake was only popular for one song, but in a year or so we are soon to forget about her, unless she makes more popular hits. TikTok really is for better and for worse. Worse as in what I said prior to this sentence, and better meaning that you can explore more genres of music and how we can turn songs into memes (which is really entertaining to watch LMFAO) and remixes. As in TikTok finding out how to give artists more sustainability in the long run, as I am looking forward to it, I think as a community we should band together and come up with ideas for this ‘issue.’ I think TikTok isn’t a major issue, but that it really depends on the artist’s Entertainment Company’s advertising team to catch the eyes of the world or nation. I mean, we have Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube music, etc.
Elias Hershfield • Jan 31, 2023 at 1:49 pm
On January 20th, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article called “It’s Time to Talk About Tik Tok” This article contains multiple interesting facts about how the popular social media app Tik Tok affects the lives of music artists. Tik Tok is a social media app where people can create their very own videos using sounds and songs of all sorts. With the use of these sounds and songs come the pros of using them and the cons. If a song goes viral, the artists of the song starts to gain more and more listeners, but the only problem with this is that when one song the artists makes goes viral, they are expected to create more songs like it in order to maintain the fame and not obtain the title as a one hit wonder. I liked how Rebecca Wilson explained the pros and cons that these artists have to deal with because it adds to the tension and stress that they have to deal with. I think next time she should include examples of people who have become one hit wonders. After reading this article I do have a question, why can’t Tik Tok remove this feature ?
Valeria Mora • Jan 31, 2023 at 1:15 pm
This article is something I agree with because so many people rely on tiktok trends to find new trendy music. These songs can range up to being sped up or slowed down just to get it stuck in your head. TikTok does harm artists in a sense that makes them believe that they have to keep performing the same song in order to keep a loyal fanbase. Experimenting with your sound might not be a good thing if most of your audience was drawn to a 15 second clip of your song on tiktok. A recent example of this is Steve Lacy as shown in one of the pictures of the article. Steve Lacy was already a known artist for his hit “Dark Red,” but when he released “Bad Habit” as a single for his album that was released in July, it skyrocketed into popularity. Many tiktok users only found out about Steve Lacy through “Bad Habit” and it began some controversy when people at his concerts didn’t know the words to his other songs. The TikTok algorithm can sometimes work wonders cause sometimes that’s how you find new artists you’re interested in, but it can also cause the attraction of trend hoppers who aren’t loyal to an artists’ consistent work.
Mya Delaney • Jan 31, 2023 at 1:14 pm
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson, a copy editor, wrote an ethical article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. Before reading her article, the idea had never even crossed my mind that Tiktok could and has had a negative impact on music artists and the music industry. I had stubbornly assumed that an artist’s song going viral on TikTok would be nothing but beneficial to them. Some of the benefits I had thought of include, but are not limited to, increased popularity, a spike in followers on social media platforms, increased profits, and more people interested in what they publish next. However, Wilson brings up a great opposing point to my previous idea. What are these artists expected to do after their one hit wonder is no longer a trend anymore? Other than hurting an artist’s profits, this quick switch up of trendy songs due to Tiktok’s algorithm could also be negatively impacting the mental health of these music artists as well. To go from everyone knowing your name and your song to nobody remembering your song and with that, you, that could be a huge hit to a music artist’s self esteem along with their motivation to keep creating music.
Alexis Hooper • Jan 31, 2023 at 1:07 pm
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk About TikTok.” The article mentions the fact that certain sounds or music that blow up on the app can influence the artists in the long term. This is because the audience will now expect music similar to the lucky one that became very popular, so this limits the ability of artists to express new ideas. As an active user of TikTok and someone who likes listening to music, I’ve realized that there have been artists who have had one hit song, but nothing else they produce gets as much popularity like the one song. For instance, people have made songs that have grown to be really popular because of TikTok trends and dances. This includes songs such as “Made you Look” by Meghan Trainor or “Supalonely” by Benee. However, both of these artists have created other great songs, but they weren’t as lucky as some of their other hits, including “Woman” by Megan Trainor or “Doesn’t Matter” by Benee. It is sad to see that many new artists with great potential and talent are being pushed aside because the TikTok algorithm constantly fluctuates. Moreover, these same artists can have just as much talent if not more than artists whose music blows up more consistently. There are some people with pretty good voices who don’t get the hype that they deserve. Other people tend to not have as much singing experience and they just happen to be lucky. In the end, I hope that many starving artists out there eventually get the love and attention they’ve earned because I’m sure that the TikTok algorithm has ended the careers of many. Thank you so much for bringing attention to this issue and giving insight on how the livelihoods of TikTok artists are being affected by temporary trends.
Tanner Henderson • Jan 31, 2023 at 11:30 am
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article entitled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. The article discusses the music industry on TikTok and how the platform takes advantage of independent artists’ success. I agree with Wilson’s take completely and prior to reading this article I knew a lot about this topic already. When a song blows up on TikTok, the platform immediately promotes this new artist in order to capitalize off of the song’s success as best as possible. This isn’t always the smartest first step for many reasons. One could be that the artist only got lucky with their particular song and don’t really have the talent to create anything else as memorable. The other and possibly more damaging outcome is that viral song becoming the only thing that particular artist is known for, as mentioned in the article by Wilson. For example, Steve Lacy’s song “Bad Habit” blew up on TikTok and it gave him a number one hit. I attended his concert at the Hollywood Bowl in November of last year and I expected the crowd to only know his big hit. I was surprised to find that the crowd sang along to all of his songs. I guess the TikTok effect only applies to artists with less material.
Ashley Tem • Jan 31, 2023 at 11:14 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote the article, “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” The article brings light to the struggles of small and independent artists. The article was extremely informative and enlightening. I never realized that TikTok could hurt small artists, I always thought it helped them. TikTok gets their songs out there and seen by millions of people on their For You Page. Though this article made me realize that when I’m on TikTok and come across small artists and the songs they are trying to produce, if I like the song I add it to my playlist and continue scrolling. And although that may sound like it helps the artists because now they have more listeners apparently it actually harms them. Now when I come across new and small artists instead of just listening to their one song and calling it a day I’ll look into them and their other songs. I hope even though TikTok may not promote all the artists’ songs they continue to make music so there aren’t as many one hit wonders. I hope the artists think that if one of their songs can go viral more of theirs can and continue to make music. There are people out there who enjoy their music and want to hear more from them. Wilson’s writing kept me interested all throughout the article. I’m so glad I read it, “you learn something new everyday.”
Chazz Brown • Jan 31, 2023 at 11:08 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article called “It’s Time to Talk About TikTok.” The article discusses the negative effects on artists from Tik Toks toxic algorithm. She states that the algorithm is significantly increasing the amount of “one hit wonders” which is good for Tik Toks engagement but bad for these artists looking for long term sustainability. Personally I had never really thought of how this affects artists negatively and I have always seen it as a positive outcome to go viral on such a huge platform. Although, I do agree with Wilson because the majority of the time, when I find a song I like on Tik Tok I will add that one song to my playlist rather than see what else that artist has to offer. I have also witnessed that many people when they hear a song from Tik Tok play on the radio they only know the 15 seconds that went viral which also proves Wilson’s point, and some people don’t even take the time to listen to the full song and this definitely can not be good for the artist. Overall I can see how Tik Tok is both good and bad for certain artists. Furthermore, I believe that it is not only the artists that have to adjust to this argument, but us as listeners to give artists the support they need to create their long term career.
Emily Temblador • Jan 31, 2023 at 11:04 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. First of all, I want to thank Rebecca for bringing attention to this issue. With TikTok’s algorithm, not only does it hide small independent artists; it also brings more attention to “industry plants”. An example of this was the band, “Tramp Stamps”. They got popular around May of last year. They were a pop-punk band consisting of three female band members. The reasons they were seen as industry plants was because of their music and how quickly they rose to “fame” with TikTok. Many TikTok users came to bash this band, especially for their music that sounded very plain, with no true feelings or special parts to it. With all the hate they received, they disappeared. Many videos, especially on YouTube and TikTok have been made about this band, exposing how the TikTok algorithm made these types of musicians popular. While shunning actually small artists at the same time. With this band, typical TikTok users are now able to see who is made popular by the algorithm, by luck, or by their actual talent. But as TikTok grows with more users, there will be more of these “fake” musicians that hide true independent artists. Thankfully, I personally have been seeing more small independent bands and artists on TikTok, meaning the algorithm is at least helping some artists. I believe that since the algorithm is constructed based on what the users like to see, it usually depends on the person’s For You page that will determine what they see. Although TikTok has helped bring attention and fame to many small artists, it still continues to bring fame to the already popular creators. Hopefully as time goes on, the algorithm will improve to better suit small independent artists to help bring attention to their craft.
koby • Jan 31, 2023 at 10:01 am
January 31, 2023
Dear Cordyn Editor,
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time To Talk About Tik Tok.” The article talks about how Tik Tok uses their algorithm to make songs go viral. It may seem good for the artists that made the song, but in reality the algorithm tik tok uses makes artists stuck in a corner and labels their music as a certain genre based off one song they made not allowing them to branch out. I really like what you had to say about this topic because I do tik tok and I come across the same experiences that artists mentioned in the article do. I have 58,000 followers on Tik Tok with over 5,500,000 likes. Before I was viral on Tik Tok I used to make all sorts of videos in different genres, but then I posted a comedy video that got 16,000,000 views. After that I was stuck to posting only comedy on my account because of Tik Tok’s algorithm. Since then, I have gotten many paid promotions and collaboration deals. Some of these companies include BarStool Sports, Live Status, and Dion. From my experience I have benefitted from going Viral from Tik Tok. Do you think there are more artists that benefit from blowing up on Tik Tok than artists that don’t? I really enjoyed the article and please write more!
Sincerely,
Koby Thurmond, Grade 11
Catia Gass • Jan 31, 2023 at 9:35 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok”. The article dives into the issue there is between TikTok’s algorithm and how it affects independent artists. Before reading this article, I knew about TikTok’s algorithm, but I didn’t know how much it impacted artists. Now I understand why it’s so difficult for artists to remain “trending”, since TikTok’s algorithm doesn’t allow them enough time to produce new sounds to remain popular with the app. It’s so sad that TikTok has reduced artists to this level of having to worry whether or not their music is good enough to become a popular sound. It’s even sadder that, as the article mentions, “It also pushes artists into a corner, creativity wise.” This is sad because artists should be able to explore new genres without having to worry about what they’re music has been type-casted as. For these reasons I completely agree with the article’s closing statement, that TikTok should reconsider its algorithm’s speed. Whether or not they will actually change, is another issue altogether. Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge and write about this undervalued and current issue!
Angelina Keller • Jan 31, 2023 at 9:27 am
January 31, 2023
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article called “It’s Time to Talk about TikTok.” The article presents the problems that TikTok causes for musicians and artists. Music is a very important part within TikTok to keep up engagement with its viewers. Some artists even become big because of the algorithm. Although, this algorithm is like a double-edged sword. Rebecca explains that TikTok’s algorithm causes more one-hit wonders and pressures artists to stick to one genre within their career. I’m not well versed within this topic since I do not have TikTok myself, so I have a few questions. Though music is a very important part of TikTok, not many of the songs are credited when being used. So, even if TikTok were to slow down their algorithm, many artists’ songs would not be credited. For example, in TikTok’s TOS (Terms of Service) it states that any material published on their site is owned and licensed by TikTok. Though there are ways to claim a song on TikTok, it requires an amount of videos to do so. So, would slowing down the algorithm really help artists and their careers? Thank you for informing me about this topic.
Sincerely,
Angelina Keller, Grade 11
Evan Zes • Jan 31, 2023 at 9:20 am
On January 9, Rebecca Wilson wrote an article titled “It’s time to talk about Tiktok” The article states that “TikTok relies on artists and their music to create trends like Beyonce’s “Cuff It” dance challenge and AJR’s “World’s Smallest Violin” art progress challenge to boost engagement within the app. It’s not uncommon for people to recognize music from TikTok trends rather than from the title or artist itself. Despite this, TikTok’s algorithm often harms rather than helps independent musicians.” I can agree with this statement because a lot of times when listening to music, I hear a song which I only recall a part that I may have heard on Tiktok. For me, this ruins the song, because in my endless scrolling, I have heard it so many times. When a song or snippet of a song becomes a trend, almost every video I see has that snippet playing in the background, and it ruins the actual song for me. On the other hand, the endless algorithm of Tiktok does give small artists the chance to put heir music into more exposure, but if popular, the “viral” aspect may not reflect on to their music platforms, and only stay on Tiktok.