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How many songs are usually in an album, and do people still stream them? Let’s break down the different music release types and how many tracks to include in your mix.
Once you’ve got an exciting collection of songs done and dusted, you’ll start to think about how to release them. But do you have enough tracks for an album – or even too many?
The length of an album changes depending on which music distributor you use and where you choose to upload your songs. On average, an album will have between nine and 12 tracks, but can be shorter or longer.
When you release your music with RouteNote, whether you choose our Free or Premium distribution, an album is defined as between 7 to 18 tracks. A single is one track; an EP is 2 to 6 tracks.
Are people still streaming albums?
In recent years there’s been a lot of chat about the so-called “end of the album.” With streaming services giving us the option of endless skips and permanent shuffled songs, perhaps our attention spans are too short to sit down, start an album, and simply let it play.
Streaming may have changed the way we consume albums, but at the end of 2021 Adele threw a curveball to “the album is dead” naysayers. As well as releasing her first album in six years, the superstar subsequently made sure that her work, and that of other artists, could be listened to as intended when recorded, by asking Spotify to turn off default shuffle on albums on the platform.
This was the only request I had in our ever changing industry! We don’t create albums with so much care and thought into our track listing for no reason. Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended. Thank you Spotify for listening 🍷♥️ https://t.co/XWlykhqxAy
Can you imagine anyone saying no to Adele? Spotify dutifully obliged, and albums now play from top to bottom. That creates a similar experience to listening to an album on vinyl – a medium which continue to grow in popularity, the ritual of putting on a record appreciated once more.
And there’s still hype surrounding album releases, even when an artist is releasing great singles. Take Wet Leg for example. The new British indie pop duo released two catchy singles and an EP, and critics and fans can’t wait for the debut album due to be released this year. The collection of songs will further reveal the sound and personality of a young band who have appeared out of nowhere to top countless “best of 2021” and “ones to watch in 2022″ music lists.
Increasingly, artists are releasing “deluxe” versions of albums months after the original release, with extra tracks, remixes or alternative recordings of popular songs, giving the original recording increased longevity. These are often double albums, which are too long to fit on just one CD or vinyl.
At RouteNote if your album is over 19 tracks it is considered an Extended Album. If you’re distributing your music for free through us, any and all release types are free.
You keep 85% of all revenue from streams, and there’s no extra fees or contracts locking you in. Meanwhile if you’re distributing through RouteNote Premium, you keep 100% of revenue, for an annual payment of $9.99 and the following different prices for different releases:
These marketing campaign examples will give you the inspiration to make your next music release a success.
A successful music marketing campaign can make or break a music release. In an age of digital music where everyone can create and release their music, opening them up to a global audience, you have to fight to become relevant and reach the right ears.
It’s sadly not good enough to simply create good music, you need to reach your audience. That’s where marketing comes in and, when done well, you can easily float above the competition to put your music in front of the people who matter. A unique and powerful marketing campaign will ensure that listeners are aware of your music and that they want to go ahead and hear it.
Music Ally have recently released their list of the very best music marketing campaigns from 2021. Exploring how artists and labels connected with existing fans and brand new listeners, using the social media platforms available to all of us and finding unique ways to connect with people in an authentic and effective way; the report offers a major insight into the strategies you can consider when you’re releasing music.
There were 70 finalists for Music Ally’s best music marketing campaigns of 2021 list, so we’re not going to list them all. We’re going to specifically look at some of the greatest campaigns with the smallest budgets, to show what is possible with creativity rather than throwing money at the wall. You can gain access to the full report, featuring all of the campaigns and why they were included here.
A quick note on how these campaigns were decided: All campaign data, budget information, and demographic statistics are provided by applicants. Budgets ranged from £0 to £25,001+ Labels were able to submit multiple campaigns. Campaigns were selected on the basis of originality, creativity, and impact.
Tony Bennett – £0-£500 budget
Image Credit: van Agostini/Invision/AP
Tony Bennett has been singing from the age of 10 and has had a lifetime of recognition and applause from audiences for his show tunes and big band singing. In recent years Bennett has come to renewed fame for his wonderful duets with Lady Gaga.
With his 95th birthday on the 3rd August, Bennett’s team wanted to make the occasion special whilst also using it to promote his latest album with Lady Gaga.
Marking his age, they decided to countdown to his birthday starting 95 days before. Sharing daily graphics online and encouraging his fans to donate to children’s art charity ‘Exploring The Arts‘, they built up a strong narrative all based around a good cause.
As his birthday drew nearer, they announced the upcoming collaborative album between Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. Revealing that they would perform for one last time on his birthday and releasing a brand new single, the countdown became even more exciting for fans.
With a life in the spotlight, Bennett has met a colourful list of characters in his life. On his birthday, Bennett saw a flood of posts and videos wishing him well for his 95th birthday. Celebrities offering their best wishes included Bono, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Billy Joel, and of course Lady Gaga.
Key Takeaway: Build up to something. Don’t wait for release day to get people behind your release, make the release day an exciting thing to look forward to.
Isak Danielson – £2,001 to £5,000
Isak Danielson rose to fame in 2012 after placing third place in The X Factor Sweden. Since then his recognition has continued to grow with a successful music career, releasing 3 studio albums in the last 4 years.
With the lead up to his third album ‘Tomorrow Never Came’ last year, Isak and his team wanted to give something personal to fans that showed an insight into the album and Isak himself. Isak created a scrapbook full of inspiration and moodboards based around his songs.
With the release of singles on Spotify and music videos, snippets and elements from the scrapbook were revealed to give deeper insights into the music. When the album released, fans were able to visit a site to unlock a digital version of the scrapbook and sign up to win the real copy. Fans were also given the chance to win an intimate, personal hangout with Isak.
Beyond the scrapbook, Isak’s label The Orchard recognised his significance in the Middle East. Focusing on that presence and appealing to that audience, they were able to earn over 8.3 million album streams from that audience on services like Anghami.
Key Takeaway: Fans love going beyond the music. Create deeper connections by providing an insight into your tracks or albums that is separate from the music itself. It’s also incredibly valuable to understand where your strongest audience is and focus on them.
Don Broco – £2,001 to £5,000
This British rock band have gone from strength to strength in the last decade making waves on the festival circuit and releasing 3 studio albums before 2021. With their fourth album on the way last year, they made a plan to engage fans using social media with their team.
It all started with the music video for their first single, in which they clone David Beckham and end up creating a villainous Beckham lookalike. They continued this narrative, having the fake Bechham take over their Instagram account and turning it into a David Beckham fan account.
Once it was made obvious to fans that their account was not actually now a Beckham fan account but still the profile for Don Broco, they continued to play with the football theme. They made up fake football teams with the band; creating football cards with the band members, fake figurine style photographs of the band as football models, and creating their very own Don Broco branded football kit.
They saw a huge response from fans who found the campaign really fun to engage with and follow. The team saw a massive amount of sharing from fans and applause for the efforts which gained traction beyond the fanbase for its unique and intriguing approach.
Key Takeaway: Come up with something silly that is fun. People love to be entertained and will be interested by the weird and wonderful. Don’t be afraid to shock and confuse. Find a theme that you can embrace for your entire campaign to create a recognisable and consistent image.
Homeshake – £2,001 to £5,000
Image Credit: Other/Charlie Cummings
Homeshake’s team describe the man behind the project, Peter Sagar, as someone who shies away from traditional marketing techniques. Therefore, with the release of his album ‘Under The Weather’ last year, they looked to find something against the grain to reel in listeners and get them excited for the new release.
They created a weather forecast app which featured a song recommendation program. The app finds where the user is and plays them a song from the new album that matches how the sky is looking in that area. Matching the mood of the weather with the feel of the track, it gave users an exciting way to hear the new album that also felt personal to them.
The album itself is said to explore the weather’s influence on our mood and lives, making the app not only an interactive and interesting way for users to interact but enhancing the overall theme of the release.
Understanding the power of sharing, the app allowed users to easily share their forecast with a “dynamically created image” to social media. They generated thousands of forecasts which were shared by listeners around the world.
Key Takeaway: Utilise the power of technology. Almost everyone has a smartphone which they use daily. Coming up with a unique and interactive tool for users to get involved with is a sure fire way to get people engaged.
Jaykae – £1,001 to £2,000
Image Credit: Publicist
The Brimingham rapper has been on the come up in recent years, collaborating with giants of the UK hip hop scene including Skepta, Mike Skinner (The Streets), and Stormzy. A recent collaboration with Jorja Smith prompted his team to use the occasion to build stronger relationships with fans.
Focusing on creating exclusive communication with fans to offer a personal relationship to Jaykae, they decided to start a phone-in/SMS tool for a campaign. The phone number was revealed hidden in Spotify Canvases, offering an exciting discovery for superfans. Teasing that there was something to be discovered on social media, fans went wild and they saw Jaykae’s streams spike up.
With the ultimate goal of building their mailing list, Jaykai recorded a voicemail for fans to hear when they phoned the number. When they texted the number they received a contact form to receive updates and the campaign took their mailing list from 250 to over 2,000 contacts.
They doubled down on the trend by customising all Jaykae’s social media channels with the title “TEXT OR CALL ME”. They went on to continue to use the phone number and voicemail method to promote the single with Jorja Smith to great response from fans.
Key Takeaway: Keep listeners up to date by getting them to follow your channels or sign up to your mailing list with something intriguing. It can be hard to build likes on pages and contacts for your mail updates; give people a reason to be interested in reaching the opportunity to stay up to date.
Lucy Spraggan – £2,001 to £5,000
Another artist who rose to fame on The X Factor – this time the UK version – Lucy signed to Columbia Records following her stint on the show. Despite leaving the singing competition early due to illness, Lucy’s musical success has not been hindered and nearly 10 years later she’s showing audiences what she’s got.
However, last year’s campaign by Lucy and her team was put in place to separate the artist from her past on the reality show and instead cement her image as a pop artist in her own right. Using Lucy’s own personal life developments (getting sober and healthy) as well as the aim of changing how she’s seen by the music public, they used the trend of transformation to inspire a campaign.
They posted regularly across social media, building and re-enforcing Lucy’s new image with each post whilst engaging with fans. They noted livestreams as a key element of their success in engaging with fans, particularly in the lead up to Premieres on YouTube.
Referencing the film Rocky in the music video for her track ‘Animal’, they had Lucy training and boxing like Stallone himself. They then offered up the boxing gloves used in the video to fans who pre-saved the album in the lead up to the release. This meant that the song was saved into listeners’ libraries immediately upon its release. They offered fans a better chance of winning when they used a referral feature, building natural sharing and hype.
They also got fans involved on the single ‘Run’, encouraging them to send their own videos of themselves running. These videos were then used for the Spotify Canvas of the single, offering fans a unique way to feature alongside the track. Finally, they played up to an in-joke that Lucy is obsessed with Biscoff by teaming up with the brand to offer £300 worth of sweet goods from the biscuit makers.
Key Takeaway: Use social media to engage with fans as regularly as possible. Regular posting keeps you in the mind of your audience. Giveaways are a great way to get people involved and compel them to make an action.
Valley – £2,001 to £5,000
Last year the band posted a TikTok of a demo that went viral with over 2.5 million views and 200,000 likes in the first 24 hours of being live. The band and their team immediately jumped on the traction, polishing the demo into a studio release and posting follow up clips over the next 48 hours.
Within 10 days of seeing the TikTok blow up, the band had released their new single on streaming services and saw their biggest response ever. The new single was featured on over 20 New Music Fridays around the world and 30 overall Spotify playlists. With features on other services like Apple‘s main page and YouTube Music‘s Top 20 playlists, they racked up 1.5 million streams in the first week.
They utilised the TikTok success by getting a popular TikTok creator (@Bowmanizer) to share the song and feature in their music video. The music video became the most-watched video in the first 48 hours for the band. They then went outside the box to engage with fans by creating custom stickers and lenses for Instagram that users could use and share.
Overall they grew 950% on TikTok, 100% on YouTube subscribers, 42% on Spotify followers, and 32% on Instagram. The song has over 70 million streams across various streaming services now.
Key Takeaway: TikTok (and platforms like it) have huge viral potential from very simple content. Don’t underestimate the power of your social media to reach brand new audiences. Maximise your potential if you do start trending on a platform.
Oscar Zia – £0 to £500
The Swedish Oscar Zia holds many positions as a pop singer, songwriter, radio and TV host, and an actor too. Moving to independent distribution for the first time with his release last year, it was time to do things differently and with a smaller budget.
Using the simplicity of TikTok as a focus, Oscar and his team set about creating fun and engaging content. They utilised the message of giving up bad habits with Oscar stating “he can quit whenever he wants”. They encouraged users to join Oscar in giving up bad habits, directing fans to a website where they could keep track of if Oscar was managing to stay away from his chosen bad habits.
Oscar kept people updated with his progress through videos on TikTok and encouraged others to do the same. TikTok helped with an official challenge page for the campaign. Overall they saw a significant increase of performance on TikTok and had over 3.9 million views on the hashtag.
This all played into the promotion of four singles released throughout the year.
Key Takeaway: Positive causes are a good way to inspire people and incite their support. Encourage fans to do something along with you, so you’re connecting through a simultaneous effort.
The BBC Sound of 2022 list reveals the artists predicted to top UK music charts this year – and the winner is an anonymous singer who not long ago was making GarageBand beats in her bedroom.
The BBC Radio 1 Sound of 2022 winner has been chosen, revealing the top new British music act predicted to go big in the next 12 months. Musician PinkPantheress has been picked as the winner by 130 music industry professionals from around the world, topping a list of ones to watch in music that includes Yard Act, Priya Ragu and Wet Leg.
PinkPantheress, who started out making GarageBand beats in her bedroom, keeps her identity a secret and only revealed her face recently. That secrecy helped to drive curiosity as to her story and sound. She found massive success on TikTok, echoing other fast-risen stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X. After signing to Parlophone records, her 2021 mixtape to hell with it has racked up millions of streams.
The winner of Sound of… is a good indicator of who is going to find success at the top of the UK music chart and beyond – previous winners include Adele and Sam Smith. Last year’s top artist was Pa Salieu and runner ups included Holly Humberstone.
Winning artist PinkPatheress makes short, experimental tracks engineered for fast consumption; whilst challenging the ear with interesting sonic choices like vintage garage samples and simple but catchy breathy vocals.
Wet Leg’s first two indie-pop singles were incredibly catchy, smart, and witty. The brand-new band’s highly anticipated eponymous debut album releases on April 8th, when fans and adoring critics alike hope there’ll be more gems in store.
Mimi Webb’s single “Before I Go” first blew up on TikTok in 2020. Webb’s big voice and assured style mean she’s bound to keep on replicating the chart success of the debut EP Seven Shades of Heartbreak.
Lola Young has a unique soulful voice and a guitar-driven sound, writing open, emotional songs. At the end of 2021 she recorded the song for the John Lewis Christmas advert, a British institution.
Central Cee’s place on the list will cement his place as one of the most exciting new artists in UK drill. The independent rapper’s melodic flow and use of playful jazz samples have seen him win two MOBO Awards and earn a Best Newcomer nomination for the 2022 BRIT Awards.
The list’s definition of ‘social media platforms’ is broad, spanning social networking platforms like Facebook and Instagram, video sharing platforms like YouTube and TikTok, as well as messaging platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat.
The image shows Facebook at the top, with around 2.8 billion monthly active users. According to Pew Research Center, around seven in ten U.S. adults (69%) say they use Facebook. Of these users, around seven in ten say they visit the site daily, with half visiting several times a day. Women in the U.S. use Facebook more than men, with 77% of women saying they use the platform, versus 61% of men, as reported by Semrush. YouTube come in a close second place with around 2.3 billion monthly active users, or around 81% of all U.S. adults.
The infographic also shows the companies behind each platforms, which highlights the fact that Meta (previously Facebook) operates four of the top five platforms, with Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram holding spots one, three, four and five respectively.
Continue scrolling for more interesting insights such as how wealth and education can influence social media use, and the reasons people say they use social media.
Sadly 2021 saw the deaths of many large figures in the music world.
Another year is coming to a close and as we say goodbye to 2021, we want to remember the greats of the music world who we also had to say goodbye to. Join us in remembering some of the world’s most influential artists and their music.
Of course, the world of music is huge and we can’t include every musician or figure within the industry who has passed away this year. If there’s a musical figure we’ve missed that you want to pay respect to then share them in the comments below; link your favourite song to share in their memory through their creations.
DMX
DMX, a huge figure in the hip-hop world, died at age 50 in April. Rapping since the early ’90s, he was there as the world of rap blossomed and grew into the mainstream genre it is today.
Whilst most widely recognised by the underground and real hiphopheads, he’s got an incredible stock of huge hits in his catalogue nonetheless. The most famous is undoubtedly the huge track ‘X Gon’ Give It To Ya’. He sure did, and we’ll hold on to it for a long time to come.
Gerry Marsden
Gerry of Gerry and the Pacemakers died at age 78 this year. A Liverpool band, they launched from the city that created the Beatles and at the same time too – not easy competition!
Whilst they didn’t achieve the same level of fame as the biggest band in history, Gerry and his band will be immortalised in their track ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – celebrated across the world by football fans, and more recently used to show solidarity with medical staff coping with COVID-19.
Dusty Hill
One-third of the legendary, influential rock band ZZ Top, Hill passed away aged 72 in July of this year. Taking his iconic look to the grave, Dusty will be remembered with strong, black shades sitting atop a long flowing beard.
With a host of classic rock and roll tracks in their unique sound filling their discography, La Grange has to be their most recognised and beloved hit track. An iconic shuffling beat, muffled vocals leering through, and one of the rock world’s most well known guitar solos make this track a classic.
Joey Jordison
Perhaps not recognisable to many but certainly known equally amongst the metal world and by drummers across the globe. Joey Jordison died in his sleep at 46.
A founding member of Slipknot, he drummed with the band for the best part of 2 decades. The band was famed for many things: their iconic and creepy masked appearance, huge live shows, and powerful percussion which escaped Jordison’s huge drum sets with 2 other members of the band slamming large drums. Jordison’s relentless and fast-paced rhythm will be remembered by many.
Charlie Watts
The renowned drummer of the Rolling Stones played with the band almost since inception, starting in 1963 and playing with them until his death in August this year.
Titled ‘The Whembley Whammer’ by Mick Jagger, Watts’ influence is all over the Stones’ most iconic records. Carving a path with one of history’s most famous rock bands, Watts actually credits jazz as his biggest influence on his style.
Alan Lancaster
Founder and former bassist for Status Quo, Lancaster died aged 72 in September this year. An essential ingredient in the band’s early success, Lancaster also sang on many of the band’s tracks including the huge Roadhouse Blues.
However the most famous track Status Quo released with Lancaster in tow has to be ‘In The Army Now’. The song, a cover of Bolland & Bolland (yeah, we don’t know either), shot up the charts and is recognised by many.
Michael Nesmith
At age 78, the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for The Monkees died on the 10th December. Another band that was somewhat posited against the Beatles, they were in fact originally conceived as a TV parody of the archetypal boy-band arrangement and image that the Beatles had perfected.
In their time The Monkees managed to reclaim their image with their own, carving a unique path that set them in their own place. The members of the band fought to be appreciated as musicians and eventually took control over their creative decisions. They didn’t just daydream, they achieved their dreams.
Hilton Valentine
Valentine passed at the age of 77 this year, leaving behind a powerful legacy of music. Valentine has a spot on the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame and is also an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As the guitarist and founding member of The Animals, he is immortalised in many great tracks but in particular will be remembered for his incredible work on their stunning cover of The House of the Rising Sun.
Follow these troubleshooting steps if you’re seeing a “cannot connect” message on Apple Music, iTunes or one of Apple’s other services.
If Apple Music, iTunes or any other service like the App Store, Game Center, Apple Books, Apple Fitness+, Apple TV or Apple News, is showing “cannot connect”, won’t load anything, stops while downloading content or shows one of the following message, try the steps below.
“Cannot connect to the iTunes Store. An unknown error has occurred.”
“We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The iTunes Store is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
“Could not connect to the iTunes Store. Make sure your network connection is active and try again.”
“We could not complete your iTunes Store request. The network connection could not be established. There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.”
Make sure you device is connected to the internet by checking your browser. If nothing loads, try another device on the same network. If there’s still nothing, restart your Wi-Fi router. After five or ten minutes, check again. If you’re still struggling on both devices, you’ll need to contact your internet provider. If only one device won’t connect to the internet, follow Apple’s troubleshooting steps for connecting on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, Apple TV or Mac. For non-Apple devices, refer to the user manual or follow the manufacturer’s online steps.
If you’re on a celluar service on your iPhone or iPad, make sure celluar data is turned on for the app you’re using. Head to the Settings app, then tap Cellular/Mobile Data, then make sure the switch next to the app you’re using is turned on.
What was the top song in 2021 according to the year’s Google searches – and why? Contenders included tracks by BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X and SZA.
Google has revealed this year’s Year in Search, ranking the top things that people filled search engine boxes with in 2021 – including the world’s music tastes.
As the go-to search resource on the internet, Google’s year round ups are usually a very good indicator of the trends the world followed from January to December. So what is the most popular song of 2021?
Top 10 most searched songs on Google in 2021
1. Olivia Rodrigo – drivers license
2. Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)
3. Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY
4. Walker Hayes – Fancy Like
5. SB19 – MAPA
6. Olivia Rodrigo – good 4 u
7. BTS – Butter
8. Tesher – Jalebi Baby
9. Nathan Evans – Wellerman
10. SZA – Good Days
What made the world search for the top 10 songs?
So, “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo was the top song in the world according to Google searches. But what made those ten songs listed go viral in 2021?
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor Rodrigo came out of nowhere and blew the pop world away with her teen breakup anthems. As of December 2021 “drivers license” had over 1.2 billion streams on Spotify, with “good 4 u” following at 1.1 billion.
Lil Nas X matched Rodrigo with two entries in the top ten, proving to be a devilish master of generating online chatter by teasing his provocative music videos, sending everyone rushing to Google. Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” racked up 1.1 billion streams, and “INDUSTRY BABY” passed 800,000 plays on Spotify.
Fans of BTS scrambled to stream “Butter,” and everyone else searched to see what the hype was about, with the K-pop band breaking their own record for first-day streams on YouTube.
Meanwhile, “Fancy Like” was a viral hit on TikTok for Walker Hayes, showing how trends on TikTok organically move from the app to the wider internet, and into the charts – the song was a Country Billboard hit, and snapped up for an Applebee’s commercial.
Filipino boy band SB19 were a Spotify RADAR act for 2020 and continued to ride a wave of popularity in 2021, bolstered by the emotional ode to parents, “MAPA”.
The Hindi-English song “Jalebi Baby” initially went viral on TikTok and Instagram in 2020, and a Jason Derulo remix helped spread Google searches round the globe in 2021.
Nathan Evans, originator of the #ShantyTok trend way back in January 2021 made the list at number 9 with “Wellerman.” And SZA’s “Good Days” was the tenth most searched for song.
The way SZA used music videos boosted her profile, first releasing a video of lip-syncing fans, followed by an official video which ended with a teaser of a new upcoming song.
There we have it – word of mouth, clever collaborations, TikTok fame, and fans encouraging each other to celebrate their favourite artists drove 2021’s Google searches.
Viral TikTok music success can take your artist journey to a global level. Just ask 17-year-old singer GAYLE.
The power of music on TikTok is not to be sniffed at. Sceptics should be directed to an illuminating Twitter thread by Alice Ophelia. It nicely lays out the journey of one 17-year-old’s song, “abcdefu”, from a TikTok comment to 90 million Spotify streams and a number two slot on the official UK charts.
Songwriter GAYLE had released her first single in January 2020 but her popularity exploded in July 2021 after she responded to a TikTok comment from a fan asking “can you write a breakup song using the alphabet?”
let me tell you about the 17-year-old songwriter who turned a TikTok comment into a #1 single with 100 MILLION streams…
Usually music goes viral on TikTok and becomes popular in the wider online world when users subsequently look for the full song on YouTube and on streaming services. In the case of “abcdefu,” born from a request for a songwriting prompt – a great example of how musicians use TikTok to engage with fans and get creative inspiration – the official song came out two weeks after.
Released on Atlantic Records, “abcdefu” has the angsty honesty of an Olivia Rodrigo track, mixing chugging guitar with an RnB beat. It opens straight in with the chantable chorus, and it struck a chord with teens on the app.
As is the way with TikTok, the song sparked a viral challenge. In the case of “abcdefu,” the trend featured teenagers smashing plates in time to the defiant hook. The song has been used on over 900 thousand videos, and GAYLE has gained over 12 million TikTok likes in the past month alone.
The song soon amassed a million streams outside of TikTok. And in the week of December 9 2021 “abcdefu” was number one on the US iTunes all-genre chart, and number two on the UK Official Singles Chart. That’s officially breaking out of the TikTok bubble.
Is TikTok music success sustainable?
We’ve seen trends catapult other musicians into success beyond TikTok, such as Nathan Evans, the originator of the #ShanktyTok trend, who scored a record deal off the back of his viral acapella TikToks.
The randomness of TikTok means it’s hard to capture that same viral excitement after your first success, but once a musician is established outside of the app career longevity is more likely. How GAYLE uses her viral fame should be an interesting ride to follow.
So it’s official. If you’re a musician, get yourself set up on TikTok. GAYLE’s trajectory is a nice example of how to use the app well, not only for sparking creativity and giving yourself a challenge but also for music promotion. Start making videos featuring your music and engage with the community, and you never know what might come from it.
Here are the top ten most-popular songs, from A-list and new artists, that hit your For You page on TikTok in 2021.
TikTok recently published their Year on TikTok 2021. This list highlighted all of the biggest music, stars, effects, trends and more on the platform in the past year. Here are the top songs in the United States taken from that list.
From homemade beats to classics making a comeback, the songs on your For You feed made you hit listen on repeat. Be it pop, classical, rap, or electronic, music starts on TikTok now. In 2021, trending songs on TikTok broke out from both A-list and emerging artists, spanning a range of genres as diverse as our community itself. Sparking creative inspiration, comedic trends, and dances for people at all levels, here is a slice of our community’s favorite songs this year.
