In recent times we have seen many artists teasing clips of their unreleased material on Tiktok. 

 

The strategy initially seemed to reward those who did it. Sam and Kim pulled it off with the much hyped “Unholy” and David Guetta and Bebe ended up releasing global smash “I’m Good” following a viral audio.

 

However in recent times, the strategy has seemed to backfire.
 

Mae Stephens was expected to have a smash on her hands after teasing a clip from “If We Ever Broke Up”. However the song upon release failed to chart anywhere except the UK and many people blamed it on dull verses that ultimately dragged the catchy hook down. 

 

Most recently, Kim Petras has received backlash from some of her fans after it was felt that the viral Tiktok clip for her single “Alone” did not properly represent the entire song and led to a feeling of disappointment when hearing the full song.

 

Can the Tiktok teasing strategy still be successful in our current musical climate? Or do the costs now outweigh the benefits?

 

Discuss

Edited April 21, 20233 yr by Wonderland

It working in some instances doesn't mean it's gonna work in every instance. It definitely doesn't mean it's "done" as a strategy.

No it ain't done. It doesn't always work. 

It's not just upload a clip and expect a miracle, it has to follow a narrative or get attached to a trend, but (major) record labels still fail to understand this. 

The biggest example of this imo is Chloe's Have Mercy. The "booty so big, lord have mercy - why keep bossing like I do" snippet was allll over Tiktok before its release and then the song never really  took off the way I thought it was going to (though its still her most streamed track but...not much competition )

 

That was what, 2021? so I don't think its ever been an exact science. tik tok is still the "people's choice," labels haven't really been able to figure out how to succesfully manipulate it (yet)

kim backfired because she teased a sample that has been mega popular on tiktok for a while now and everybody expected her to release a 2000s / early 2010s inspired 100% POP bop only for her to release one of the worst songs ever

 

the material was already here, the song was a huge sound on tiktok for a while, i don't understand why she decided to release the song that way

It has to organically catch on after the artists push it. Not everything sticks. Doesn‘t mean it‘s not useful.

2 hours ago, Windy Day said:

kim backfired because she teased a sample that has been mega popular on tiktok for a while now and everybody expected her to release a 2000s / early 2010s inspired 100% POP bop only for her to release one of the worst songs ever

 

the material was already here, the song was a huge sound on tiktok for a while, i don't understand why she decided to release the song that way

Probably was too late to push back the release.  

Unholy was the only instance where this strategy 100% paid off