If a Song Appears on TikTok, It Might Go Super Viral. Now—Even More Likely

TikTok's influence all over the music industry is hard to deny since if a track shows up in one of the trending videos, it 100% goes viral and hits thousands of streams. The latest TikTok update now makes it even easier for artists to appear in your music streaming apps—thanks to the seamless integration between Spotify and Amazon Music.

The feature, named "Add to Music App" is simply a button next to the song title on the screen's bottom. Upon clicking on which you are prompted to select your preferred music platform, including options like Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Music (the latter was not initially disclosed in the press release but can be seen on the screenshot below).

Ole Obermann, TikTok's global head of music business development, emphasized the platform's status as the world's foremost music discovery and promotion hub. Obermann stated, "Add to Music App takes this process a step further, creating a direct link between discovery on TikTok and consumption on a music streaming service, making it easier than ever for music fans to enjoy the full-length song on the music streaming service of their choice, thereby generating even greater value for artists and rightsholders."

As noted by TechCrunch, for Spotify users, a saved TikTok song will automatically be added to their liked songs. On Amazon Music, the song will be directed to a TikTok-specific playlist or a playlist of the user's choosing.

Why it's a win-win for TikTok, streaming platforms & artists

TikTok's influence on music trends is already substantial, with songs trending on the platform often making their way to the Billboard charts. The new feature could amplify this impact by facilitating a smoother transition from TikTok trends to official music charts, further shaping the landscape of popular music. And by enabling users to easily save and listen to discovered songs on major streaming services, the feature provides artists with an additional avenue to reach a broader audience. No need to explain that such increased exposure on major streaming services can and will contribute to the success of emerging artists and boost the careers of already popular musicians.

The direct link between TikTok discovery and music streaming consumption opens up new monetization opportunities for artists and rightsholders: increased engagement on streaming platforms will lead to higher streaming numbers, benefiting artists in terms of royalties and overall revenue. As a result, artists will use TikTok as a strategic platform for exposure and promotion more and more.

According to The Pudding data essay on TikTok's impact on music, "of the artists who charted on Spotify from January 2020 to December 2021, 332 had never charted before. 25% of them came from TikTok."

What's more, conventional milestones of a successful music career, such as 1M+ Spotify monthly listeners, large YouTube and Instagram followership, live gigs, music festival performances, and a signed record deal, often follow a successful boom on TikTok when a song (or its part) goes viral. Thanks to how TikTok organizes audio, songs that get discovered on TikTok as memes or part of lip-sync dances might go viral instantly, even if the song was released years and years before TikTok was even a project.