Sure, Musical.ly’s song catalog and re-create functionality posed a promising viral marketing opportunity for music, but so what? I couldn’t find anyone to disagree with me on that. Then, I went deeper down the rabbit hole and began to suspect something that questioned even my own beliefs at the time
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The fantasy of your song going viral on TikTok is a seductive one. Gather influencer proposals from a half dozen agencies, have management pick their favorite, and voilà! Magic, right? Having been on the receiving end of thousands of these requests-for-proposal – and involved with many of the largest viral trends in Musical.ly and TikTok history – I’m writing to expose the flaws in the popular “spray-and-pray” approach, and to offer a measured alternative that relies instead on data: our new product offering, Lauunch.
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On February 15, 2019, a 20-year-old Massachusetts man heard a song on Twitter, ripped it from Soundcloud, and made it the soundtrack to a 15-second TikTok video of his transformation into a cowboy.
Read MoreOn May 10th, brothers Ajani Huff, 18, and Davonte House, 20, shot a 15-second dance video beside a lake near Syracuse, NY. They hatched plans to "make it trend" in pursuit of their larger goal of becoming “TikTok famous.”
Read MoreThree songs are currently in the top 15 on Spotify’s US Viral 50 chart solely because of TikTok. They combined for 140,000 equivalents last week. I know a 19-year-old who joined the app in October and already has over 4 million fans. She has funneled scores of them into a 400,000-follower Instagram account and is being flown around the world for modeling and acting opportunities.
Read MoreWouldn't this business be easier if we could just access other people’s devices and directly control what music they stream? With Stationhead, now you can.
Read MoreMusical.ly is deprioritizing music. Next Wave, FIRSTLISTEN, and artist hashtag contests have all been discontinued. They don’t even feature music lip-sync posts anymore.
Read MoreNo amount of "reach" can guarantee a successful Musical.ly campaign. Eyeballs are a gateway to engagement, but achieving real results “off-platform” requires the community at-large to remuse your sound (slang for making a musically with a sound discovered in-feed) on their own terms. To accomplish this your song must appeal to the one innate desire of every muser: to get “famous.”
Read MoreI have good news: “social media stardom” is a myth. It doesn’t exist. The term was invented by digital immigrants like me to cope with boring 9-to-5 jobs while the younger generation built dream careers out of mom and dad’s bedroom. There’s already a word for people who launch successful careers after building large followings online. They’re called “celebrities.”
Read MoreOn Monday night I was told that, “Musical.ly is dying out.” This despite a $100 million fundraise, a user base that has doubled to 120 million since July, engagement that clears 10 million videos per day, and partnerships with every label under the sun.
Read MoreThe most important decision of your Musical.ly marketing campaign is which section of your song to make available on the app. This was true when I wrote about it in June, and it’s true now. As the rights holder, you have control over which 15-second clip appears in the Musical.ly catalog, so don't settle for what you see on the app if it's not right.
Read MoreMusical.ly users are the most engaged followers in social media history. When asked the right way -- by the right influencers -- they champion your music with unprecedented passion and reach.
Read MoreI heard it for the first time on Saturday. I have no idea who’s on the team or if there even is one. But I’m going to find out and make this track big on Musical.ly.
Read MoreIn the early days of a platform’s growth, free media is everywhere and the room isn’t too packed. Early adopters with strong off-platform followings are rewarded with promotional perks and partnerships that benefit both artist and app. Musical.ly is a prime example, but there are others.
Read MoreIt’s not about the Heat or the Cavs, it’s about LeBron. Jerseys sell because of the name on the back, not the name on the front, and fans go where celebrities are. It’s the same in social media, where there’s a digital arms race to keep power users on platforms.
Read MoreNo social media platform impacts the music industry more than Musical.ly. Users (known as “musers”) don’t just share your content, they star in it. They choreograph, direct, and film a music video on an artist’s behalf, then blast it out to a captive audience eager to do the same.
Read MoreThere's a big opportunity right now to break your artists on Musical.ly. Here's what you need to know to run a successful marketing campaign on the platform.
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Music blogs are dead. No one cares what I have to say. Streaming playlists will eventually prevail, but growth is slow at Spotify and Apple is dividing the community. So who’s winning music discovery right now? The answer is China.
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