Is TikTok Ruining Music?

POV: You hear a catchy clip of a song on TikTok so you look up the actual song on Spotify… aaaand find out those five seconds were the only good part. Sigh.

Social media platforms like TikTok are full of “catfish” songs like these nowadays. Sped-up songs, nightcore remixes, mashups — you’ve probably seen all of these at some point. But to be honest, it’s getting a bit… annoying. I mean, how long can you scroll on TikTok without hearing “Unholy” or “Kill Bill?” Exactly. The overexposure of these songs on TikTok has had a pretty bad effect on both the listeners, and the music industry.

On one hand, we have TikTok as this great platform for promoting music - like Gayle’s “abcdefu” or Bella Poarch’s “Build a Bitch” have experienced. But on the other hand, it spoils bangers by shoving popular music into your face. Like, the pain of finding out that your favorite song is being lip synced to by thirteen year olds? Grotesque. And, it’s even worse for the artists and producers. For months now, industry insiders and artists have expressed their frustrations about being forced to modify their songs for TikTok. Of course it’s exciting that Tik Tok can boost a song to number one on Billboard, but now the original creativity and intent behind the song is… kinda gone, isn’t it? 

Music is a form of artistic expression. It’s a way to tell a story that connects with people on a personal level. So is it really worth sacrificing true art for another renegade phenomena? We don’t think so.