How Is Tik Tok Influencing What Music We Listen To?

Raw content, authenticity and an algorithm that is tailored to each users’ interests are all defining features of Tik Tok that have us endlessly scrolling through our FYPs.  There is no doubt that Tik Tok has become a breeding ground for content creators to unleash their creativity as virality became more achievable than ever, largely thanks to the app’s algorithm. As a result, content creators and their followers began to explore new content beyond the mainstream, old- fashion posts that consume other social media platforms. For example, while Instagram influencers allow their audience to fantasize about having their “perfect” lifestyle,  Tik Tok content creators satisfy their audience’s cravings for raw and unfiltered content. This aspect of Tik Tok opened many doors for content creators to build their own unique brands that are far more relatable and personal. Therefore, unlike any other social media platforms, we can easily see that Tik Tok’s new and open-minded digital culture has made people more comfortable with creating and engaging in different and non-mainstream content. 

Now if you know anything about Tik Tok, you know that the sound that is being used in a video is as equally important as the visuals. In fact, using the right sound could be the reason why a video does well in likes and views. From random movie snippets, interviews with celebrities, and hilarious meme sounds to the most viral songs by your favorite celebrities, Tik Tok’s sound library offers a plethora of options for users to choose from. Today, the reason why a song can do well on the charts could be because a Tik Tok creator was able to choreograph a dance to it, leading to a viral trend that generates millions of views and videos (S/O to Say So by Doja cat). But what does the importance of sound have to do with Tik Tok’s digital culture? The causal nature of Tik Tok videos where people can explore their own identities without the fear of not “fitting in”, deliberately influences the creators’ choice of sound. We can see how this manifests through the recent Tik Tok Trends: many new trends are based on songs from different languages from all parts of the world, rather than from your typical English pop songs. This brings us to a wider question: does Tik Tok’s nonchalant and open-minded culture aid in internationalizing a “new” type of music? Is it redefining the traditional approach for achieving “virality”? 

Well, since creators are not pressured to fit a certain standard or fulfil specific criteria, they are more comfortable with representing their personal identities in the videos they make- it is currently observed in the sounds they choose. Many creators from non-English speaking backgrounds are choosing songs from their culture and language to create videos with. Whether they dance, lip-sync or just appreciate their culture, the videos of these creators are being met with huge success. Take the vietnamese song “Con Gái Miền Tây (Country Girl)” by Lương Khánh Vy for example. This song was uploaded to Tik Tok by Nguyễn Thanh Hiền who used it on one of her videos. By the power of Tik tok, this song fell into the hands of Vietnamese creators around the world, starting an infectious trend. Many Vietnamese creators took this chance to showcase the beauty of their culture by lip syncing and showing off traditional Vietnamese attire. Due to the virality of the sound, creators from different backgrounds joined the trend too. Many would describe the song as “addicting” and say that they can’t fight the urge not to sing along “even if they didn’t know Vietnamese.” Con Gái Miền Tây trended for couple of months earlier this year and the sound currently has up to 200K videos. Another example is the Japanese song “Mayonaka no Door / Stay With Me” by Miki Matsubara, which had its own Tik Tok trend as well. Since this song was a hit in the 80’s, the trend mainly started off by Japanese-American teens playing this song to their moms and recording their wholesome reactions. Similar, to Con Gái Miền Tây people from all backgrounds eventually hopped on the trend and expressed their love for the song. 

The positive outcome of those songs paved the way for other creators from different backgrounds to use non-English songs as well. Most recently, “Isii Nafta (Love You More Than My Life)” by the Somali artist Nimco Happy witnessed huge success on Tik Tok. The catchy lyrics of this song where Nimco sings I love you in four different languages: Somali, Swahili, Arabic and English took over everyone’s FYP. The joyous vibes of the song spread all over Tik Tok and reached many A-list celebrities. Cardi B, for example, posted a video of her dancing to Isii Nafta on her official Tik Tok account. Bella Hadid shared a video of Nimco performing this song on her instagram which gained over 3 Million views. Under a video of Nimco singing on a meme page, Drake commented “this song goes hard”. This is by far the best example of the power of Tik Tok in globalizing non-mainstream music. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Nimco even described how happy she felt that she was now “known internationally”. 

Whether we like it or not, Tik Tok today has a strong hold on pop-culture. This app’s fresh digital culture that allows creators to freely express themselves has its fair share of influence on public opinion. Thanks to Tik Tok, creators stepped out of their comfort zone and shared the hidden gems of their culture with the rest of the world.This is one of the first times we are witnessing non-English music become popular in the western world, gaining international recognition regardless of what language the listeners speak. So, to answer my question earlier: It is safe to say that Tik Tok definitely catalysed the globalization of music from underrepresented cultures and created room for non-mainstream music to be appreciated internationally and by doing so widening the scope of what it takes to achieve virality. Although we are still a long way from true inclusivity in media, Tik Tok is starting to become a mean for promoting diversity in the mainstream content we consume on a daily basis.