TikTok’s looking to further solidify its connection with the music industry, via a new partnership with Billboard on an official “TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart”.
The new, weekly chart will highlight the top trending songs on the platform in the U.S., and will further underline TikTok’s importance as a driver of music interest, and a key platform for music promotion and distribution.
As per TikTok:
“The TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart is the first official chart in the U.S. to monitor music discovery and engagement on the platform. It is the verified list of the hottest songs on TikTok each week, giving the most accurate record of the current music trends happening in the U.S. market. The chart is based on a combination of creations, video views, and user engagement by the U.S. TikTok community, and will be released weekly on Thursdays.”
TikTok has fast become an essential consideration for record labels and artists, due to its capacity to spark high-volume music trends, that can quickly make a track the essential hit of the moment.
Indeed, TikTok is now so influential that various artists and publishers are creating tracks with TikTok in mind, with some even changing the names of their songs in retrospect to better align with in-app usage.
According to a study published in 2021 by MRC Data, 75% of TikTok users, at that time, were using the app to discover new artists, while 63% indicated that they hear music they’ve never heard before for the first time via TikTok clips. Given TikTok’s growth since then, you can only imagine that these percentages are now even higher, making it a more influential driver of music trends.
It makes sense, then, for TikTok to further solidify its music industry connection, while also helping to further promote artists that make TikTok hits.
I mean, the only concern here is that this will further incentivize music based on TikTok trends. Which may not be a bad thing, but it could lead to more artists looking to create key snippets for sampling, which could impact the creation process.
Maybe, I don’t know, maybe artists don’t consider it to that degree. But with TikTok driving billions of views based on music, my guess is that at least some in the record industry are trying to map out what types of clips and lyrics within a track will work best for TikTok clips.
Either way, it makes perfect sense for TikTok to partner with Billboard on this new track listing, as a promotional vehicle for TikTok itself, and a means for Billboard to stay connected to key culture drivers.
It’ll be interesting, also, to see how the TikTok chart compares with Billboard’s regular top track listings.