Musicians have a notorious love/hate relationship with TikTok. Artists with a record deal are ordered to go viral before their music will be released, artists without a record deal market themselves to get one on the platform, sounds go viral without the credit or revenue of the original artist, and the creator fund is considered the worst of the platform options so it’s not viable to be a TikTok musician as a paid income.
Is all of that about to change? Probably not, but TikTok’s latest experiment is a step in the right direction. They are allowing users the capacity to create content based on their music, in an attempt to maximize in-app reach.
TikTok users can now see “Work with Artists” as an option in their Creator Tools menu, which will allow them to select a track and create content around it. It sounds like a more legitimate form of the process already available with Sounds, with a lot of the big changes taking place behind the scenes.
The idea is that using this tool will allow other musicians to use the app as a springboard the way so many have before, and allow users to spark new viral trends on the app, as happens practically every week without input or reward to the musicians behind it.
