We pitch music to influential curators on Tik Tok–a video sharing social networking app that has boomed over the past three years and is very popular amongst the younger generation.

You need to be visible on Tik Tok to compete in today’s market.

What is Tik Tok?

Tik Tok (formerly known as musical.ly) is a social media platform for creating, sharing, and discovering short music videos; think Karaoke for the digital age. Musical.ly was used by younger audiences as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing. The app now called Tik Tok, complete with a new logo, has all the same features as Musical.ly and allows users to create videos recorded in 15 seconds or less and share them across a community.

What is Tik Tok’s background?

Purchased at the end of 2017, Chinese company Bytedance shuttered the lip-sync-video app Musical.ly and migrated its users to TikTok. The re-brand and launch have been extremely successful, at least when it comes to impacting pop music, since the platform has become a staging ground for hits — Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” yes, but also Ambjay’s “Uno,” Y2k and bbno$’s “Lalala,” and now it looks like Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” — before they crash into the mainstream. Can you replicate the same results in previous clients and case studies for my content?

What makes Tik Tok different from some of the other social platforms?

YouTube and Instagram are all platforms that lend themselves to music discovery, TikTok demands it. Thanks to the machine learning that powers the app, formerly known as Musical.ly, TikTok needn’t rely on a user’s social circle to generate recommended content.
“Imagine a version of Facebook that was able to fill your feed before you’d friended a single person,” The New York Times’ John Herrman recently wrote. “That’s TikTok.”

Instead of personal connections, the network thrives on a constant flow of so-called “challenges,” or prompts that encourage disparate users to participate in a momentary trend, be it “eating to a beat” or a dance move called “the woah.” Like the “Superman” or the “In My Feelings” dances, challenges that capitalize on a cultural moment. But on TikTok, less credence is given to the originator, and users are often rewarded for adding their own personal spin on an existing action.
In short, they’re like any old meme, except the user—not a single static image or video—is the star.

How do I create an account?

Users, or formerly known as ‘musers’, can either sign up using their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or email account.

How does it work?

Like most other social networks, users can follow other users, like and comment on other users’ videos and send emoji’s to their favourite singer on Tik Tok/ Musical.ly.

First, users select the song they wish to use in their video, and then record themselves miming along to the music. Alternatively, users can record their video first and then select a song.

Users also have the options to shoot in slow-mo, time-lapse, fast forward, filters, effects or even play the song backward etc.

Once users are happy with their video, they can post it to their followers and share it on other social networks for example; WhatsApp, FB, Instagram etc. There is also a duet feature, which allows you to connect with another user and lip-sync together.

The search tool allows users to view other videos. Users can also view content under the trending hashtags and submit videos using these hashtags (similar to how Instagram works). The hashtags are also used to submit videos for challenges – for example; #Lipsncychallenge, #Comedychallenge, etc.

Can the client/artist walk away from the Tik Tok campaign with Spotify streams?

They will not be redirected from the TikTok platform. However, if a user has Spotify (or any other DSP for that matter) and they see the track title and artist name on TikTok, they can look that up on Spotify and potentially that can translate into streams.

On a basic package campaign, how many Tik Tok influencers content will the client’s track be added to?

Typically, 5-8, although it might vary. The goal is in reaching a certain user base, so quality over quantity.

On the premium package campaign, how many Tik Tok influencers content will the client’s track be added to?

Typically, 15-20, although it might vary. The goal is in reaching a certain user base, so quality over quantity for this package too.

How long will the campaign run for?

Typically, 3-6 weeks, although it varies on a case-by-case basis.

How would you send the reports and metrics for the campaign?

Reports will be sent with post links, # of likes (after at least a few days of a post being up), and the handles. You will receive a final campaign report with all the transparent data and metrics from it.

Can you see the click through to Apple Music? 

That feature is no longer available on Tik Tok. When you click on the song and artist name on each content video, it takes you to the total video adds page, where you can see how many videos your track has been added to on the platform.

What is the definition of Tik Tok sound clip?

“A Sound clip is the main snippet or section of the song that is ingested into the Tik Tik sound library which the content creators and influencers will have the choice of choosing to add to their video content on the platform.

Do you have any packages that go past 100k reach? 

Yes if interested, you can inquire within about our “Tik Tok” Platinum package. This campaign involves us achieving up to 250 million in influencer reach. It’s the biggest Tik Tok campaign on offer at our agency and probably anywhere in the world.