Arnold et al. discuss how the music video form has evolved from MTV’s heyday to today’s social media platforms like TikTok. They highlight the shift towards short, catchy content tailored to the viral nature of social media, reshaping how music is consumed and promoted (Arnold et al., 2018). TikTok has reshaped the music industry, influencing not only how we consume music but also how artists create it. TikTok, which started as a platform for sharing videos, has become a global stage for songs to go viral, mostly due to catchy beats and dance trends.

Traditionally, popular songs followed a structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus (Zimmerman, 2023). However, TikTok has brought about a shift in how music is created. Some people call this change as the “TikTokification” of modern pop music. songs are now designed with catchy, brainwashing hooks that work within TikTok’s short-video format.

Because of TikTok’s simplicity, the process of music creation has also become easier. “Making a viral TikTok song in 20 minutes” show how they can create catchy, viral TikTok song in less time than ever before. This video showcases how simple hooks, repetitive beats, and easy-to-remember lyrics are key to crafting a song designed for TikTok virality. The process is much faster compared to pre-TikTok times when artists spent months working on tracks and music videos, indicating how TikTok has changed how music are produced.

On the other side, many people criticize the quality of songs that go viral. While some enjoy the catchy tunes, others feel these songs lack depth and creativity. Many artists are now making music mainly to fit TikTok trends, focusing on what will go viral rather than making unique, original music. This shift has raised concerns about the future of music, with many people wondering if it’s becoming more about trends than true artistic expression.

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reference:

Arnold, G., Cookney, D., Fairclough, K. and Goddard, M., 2018. ‘Introduction: The Persistence of the Music Video Form from MTV to Twenty-First-Century Social Media’, Music/Video: Histories Aesthetics, Media, pp. 1-14.

Zimmerman, J. (2023) The ‘tiktokification’ of modern pop music: How Tiktok changed the Music Industry, The ‘Tiktokification’ of modern pop music: How Tiktok changed the music industry – The Miami Student. Available at: https://www.miamistudent.net/article/2023/11/tiktok-effect-on-popular-music.