Tiktokification of the Music Industry

It has never been easier than it is today for people to have the world at their fingertips. We can search for anything we want at any time we want. But with that, comes the mind-numbing content that fills consumers' minds every time they open their phones. How has this impacted our minds and the content being created in a generation of Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook? This question has interested me as I've been chronically online since I was 12.

Recently, it's come to my attention that this is affecting the music industry more than what meets the eye. Music is being mass-produced, creating generic sounds that are made specifically for radio plays. For instance, the song "abcdefu" by Gayle has one of the most tone-deaf beats, as well as just terribly written lyrics. While music taste is subjective, most people agree this song simply sucks (If you've never heard it before, give it one listen then don't torture yourself ever again).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, however, social media is allowing for smaller artists to be found and celebrated. For example, Noah Kahan is an indie/alternative musician who started his career at the young age of 8 years old by writing songs but didn't begin producing music until he was 17. Noah has gained a massive following during the last year since his release of his single "Stick Season," followed by the album. How it got so popular? Tiktok. This social media platform has allowed musicians to post 15 seconds to 3 minutes long videos, giving artists the ability to tease their fans with their latest works.

While this can be an overall incredible asset to the music industry, it can also extremely damage artists' careers and the type of music they produce. Nothing seems exciting anymore - we don't hear randomly dropping songs anymore and be met with the thrill of surprises. Instead, we hear snippets and anticipate the arrival until the artist releases the song - or in some cases, it never gets released at all due to the lack of hype created on social media.