This! My friend shared with me a popular TikTok cover of Judas by Lady Gaga done on electric guitar and it was really just the main riff on loop for 2 minutes, I was so disappointed
I’m so glad it’s not just me noticing the erasure of bridges. The bridges were so noticeable to me because they’d mark a big difference in the song. Now songs feel so much more repetitive.
I agree! I personally dislike when a song doesn't have a bridge. Some songs can pull it off but I do find new songs just all sound the same and don't have any individuality in their rhythm/lyrics. Having no bridge makes it sound idk worse? I miss the bridges bring that shit back.
I agree. I’m so so grateful and happy that my favourite artist of all time, Conan Gray, creates some of the most beautiful and prominent bridges I’ve heard
Oh, this reminds me of a video of a Steve Lacy concert where the audience was happily singing along to the TikTok-popular chorus of "Bad Habit" and then went dead silent on the rest of the song
My dad works as a DJ for a pub, and he's noticed that when people request a song and dance along for TikTok, it's normally only about two minutes long. The person who requested the song dances around with their phone for thirty seconds, then stands around like an NPC because the popular hook part is over.
That’s so freaking depressing, no wonder 70s-2000s have such a chokehold on clubs, barely any good song to have a great time popped up since social media went from forum based sites to what we have today. Probably why KPop got so big as well.
another problem is that a single line can completely alter the way the song is perceived and the tone. I remember Hozier’s song “Eat Your Young” got really popular for the first couple lines for being a “hot and sexy” song but if you actually listen to it, it has a lot of undertones on how we’re consuming the life from younger generations.
To be fair this has happened a lot in the past, "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins, "Rockin' in the Free World" by Neil Young, "The One I Love" by REM, to name a few.
It's so strange!!! I was wondering why that one especially was getting so much attention (I don't use tik tok) Cause I though Damage Gets Done and honestly, the rest of the album has considerably fewer people listening to it.... its so weird, because that whole album is fucking great!
@@TheGoop22wait i had no idea today was about that lol i love that song. i watched the music video and always thought i was about not wanting a relationship to end or something.
The tiktokifocation of music is the equivalent of the Adam Sandler method of writing a movie script. He comes up with ONE good joke or clever line and then writes a movie around it.
I heard he claims that he just finds a nice place to fuck around with his friends and uses making a movie as an excuse for it. NGL, I kinda respect that. Would probably do the same
@@notsteve5927 It was a good song though. I feel like this type of sound is really missing nowadays but I am clearly biased as this was during my childhood.
@@Schlagageul Agreed. I'm not a huge fan of pop music but back when that song came out I was vitriolicly against it because I was a lame teenager. Yet I really loved that song even then and I still jam to it today
“Did I just make the song of the summer?” And it’s the most ear piercing traumatizing horrible horrifying terrible painful suffering death worthy AI generated ass sounding thing
Every time I drive with the radio on (why does it take forever to connect your phone when you're late) I literally feel like Stan in that one South Park episode where everything sounds like someone farted and shit into the mic💀💀💀
I think the worst part is going to a concert and watching people only sing along to one song that went viral on TikTok then going silent for the rest of the concert. I'm so passionate about music, so I'm happy that my favorite band is getting more recognition, but it's sad to feel alone in a huge crowd because everyone only knows one song that they heard on TikTok.
This is how I feel at Billy Joel concerts in recent years. I usually see him every 4-6 months for the last 8 or 9 years. Ever since Zanzibar went viral on TikTok in 2020, when he started doing shows again in 2021, you see a TON of late teens to twenty-somethings screaming the chorus to Zanzibar and then diddle on their phone the rest of the time. It's utterly agonizing. I've honestly wondered if it's one of the reasons he's ending the MSG residency besides the main reason, which is wanting to free himself from the contractual obligations.
Bro its crazy how I will bring up a song to kids at my school and they don't recognize the title of what I see as a classic song, I sing the "catchy" part and they go like "oh yeah I think I heard that in a tiktok" and i get so confused because like I am not a boomer. these are my peers???
Adding injury to that is the fact that those songs going mega viral makes the artist's tickets near impossible to buy only for half the audience to be this disengaged because they haven't bothered listening to anything else
yoooo this is such a cool point I haven’t rly thought abt, tiktok is creating so many sleeper hits or resurfacing old hits now and I wonder if it’s a gradual rejection of the more current, purposely trendy music
This is such an awesome thing about tiktok. I feel like mainstream listeners have finally caught on to the way that more passionate music fans listen to songs... not "what's new" or "what you remember" but whats out there that I missed out on?
I got off tiktok almost 6 months ago and it isn't just music, it's the way people speak, act, and entertain. I'm starting to understand why people hate it so much. It feels like my attention span is so short, I haven't been able to enjoy an album or any long form entertainment since short form content was introduced. Movies become boring, 4 min songs I love become Skippable, I never listen to my favorite albums anymore, shows that aren't structured like Family Guy become increasingly harder to watch as instant gratification is so normalized. It's wild
agreed! i havent used tiktok in almost a year, but its still EVERYWHERE and i hate it. it fucked up my attention span even more than it already was! i have to constantly be doing something else while watching something longer than 10 minutes
@moonbloom I had the same issues! I'm just now enjoying laid back things. But entertaining friends or company becomes frustrating with how small our attention spans are. I've tried movies, games, tv, but nothing accept for Funny Tiktok Compilations keeps them occupied. It's like keeping toddlers occupied but they have the ability to up and leave after an hour of social interaction.
I think youre right that it affects the whole way people act and speak, Ive never had tiktok but everyone except for one other person in my friend group does, and while I cant fully articulate the difference, SOMETHING about me and my one other tiktok free friend vs the others is just. Different. Our humor, our opinions, the way we consume stuff, certain things we are aware of that the others arent and vice versa... Sadly, for someone my age, not having tiktok genuinely puts a bit of a divide between me and my peers (or deepens the one that's already there, maybe)
@BLUES I'm 20 so I understand fully! It's probably the biggest divide. Imagine not even having social media in general. The divide would grow like wildfire for most people. I'm really lucky to have 2 different groups of friends. 1 on socials like Tiktok, or others who only use Facebook and CZcams. I speak in full carefully put together sentences but then others speak in references and small lingo like "It's Girly Pop" made 0 sense to me. I just see such a giant divide here and it's scary Edit: I forgot to mention that people on tiktok tend to have really unified opinions. Especially with politics and social issues. You'll see people on tiktok have 1 unified opinion when there are 100 different ways to approach a situation or think about it.
The thing with Old Town Road is that he was a really smart, He pushed it out as a song to accompany memes on tiktok and discord and was able to get ppl interested in the song with small snippets. Than once it was on the charts, he allowed ppl to remix it constantly, because of a remix gets popular it keeps the original in the charts.
And he released a new version of it just as the old one was dropping off to keep buzz going. A regular video, then a lyroc video, then a country collab, then a hip hop collab. Etc.
This is exactly what is happening with book publishing as well. I have friends who are trad published who have been told they need to build a strong booktok presence. The companies are saving money by putting the artists marketing directly on the artist.
Honestly, most companies from the art business are getting ridiculous about their requirements to work with you. What good is it to sign a contract with a label, a publisher or whatever, when they want you to do 90% of their job beforehand?
I see a lot of shorts saying stuff like, “the first line of this book is…” or “trying to get you to read books with r one line” Like, maybe try to get me to read with an actual summary of what it’s about
I want to mention the factor of series authors, like janet evonovitch ? Sp? With her char. Steph. Plum /swf, unemployed, takes on a bail bondsmans ( a relative, her uncle ) challenge & tada a whole new investigative murder / romance/ funny chick etc. genre is born that could be filled out by a program as long as a car gets totaled & the almost sex or unspecified or non detailed sex action is included & the pet or random animal sequence, somebody needs rescuing , or she does, incurring a debt for a later book to be based on etc. with only a few paragraphs added so they can honestly say ' no the book was not written by a bot ' ! It's so bad it's hard to tell if you've read it before or not! Sue Grafton ( rip ) was never like that! Tyvm! Books should be inspired by actual thought, not prelaid triggers unless the plot lines for future books are outlined & timelined prior to the triggers entry point. For the most part. It is cool when brief moments in books go to spinoffs etc.
@@eileenscatthat's why self publishing with a freelanced editor is so popular nowadays. Write a book and hire someone to edit and make a cover for like $100, publish it to your booktok fans, rake in lots of cash with 70% royalties
It’s not just in pop music. I play in a country band for a living. We have a new single coming out this summer, and the label put trap drums over this acoustic country song ‘so it’s more danceable on tiktok.’ That’s the entire metric of what gets released now, and it’s a shame.
It would be one thing if the BAND, you know the people doing the actual labor, decided to make your country song more danceable. But to have your label chasing a fad that's going to end at some point is insulting. Art is truly rapidly dying and we have finance and tech bros to thank for it.
to me, doja cat is the embodiment of a career made by tiktok. her label only took notice to her talent after “moo” went viral. almost every song from her most recent album had a section go viral on tiktok and i dont think it’s necessary intentional (there’s just something abt the way she writes her songs that tiktok just LOVES) but it certainly has amplified her career in an insane way. it’s really interesting to see her as a case study for the newest wave of musicians who are well known for their online personas as well as their art
I don't think you can attribute her success on tik tok, her songs were huge hits on the radio too like old mainstream artists. She did good on tik tok like anyone else did too. I've never been on tik tok and never heard moo
@@Anna13Tonks moo on the radio?? 😭😭 moo was def uplifted by social media, i’ve never downloaded tiktok but i heard it a million times on other platforms. afterwards her songs were def on the radio a Lot, like “kiss me more” & “say so”
Watching things like this as an almost 30-year-old who refuses to join TikTok makes me feel like an old man standing outside my farmhouse watching the world change around me in ways I can't fully comprehend EDIT: This is not meant to be a "Change and technology are bad and I'm better than kids these days" type statement. I try to balance my online and offline time for the sake of my mental health, and TikTok seems like it would absolutely wreck that balance for me. Godspeed to everyone who is on it and helps keep people like me from falling completely out of touch
I think you can see this trend mirrored in the “ringtone pop/hip hop” trend of the 2000’s. Think 50 cents Candy Shop, artists would create beats and melodies that were easily replicable to be used as ringtones which was HUGELY profitable back then.
@@ludifoe5039 I'm sorry, are you saying the trend that put Laffy Taffy into the world is not cringy? "They call me jolly rancher 'cause I stay so hard" is not gimmicky enough?
I recently quit the app and one of the things I hated about it is when they speed up the songs. I remember hearing the sped up version of Sweater Weather and when I listened to it at normal speed, it was actually much better. You can’t savor the feeling that the music gives you when you listen to it if it’s going faster than summer break
I hate those sped up songs, my sister is the typical TikTok mid teens type of TikTok user and there are so many sped up songs blasting from her speakers…
The screaming over tiktok songs effectively avoids copyright and speaks my intrusive thoughts into the world whenever these mega popular tik tok songs play
She's doing it again And the fact that it works kills me. Unfortunately all her songs were made for tiktok even before tiktok existed, so props to her I guess, get that bag and whatnot But I'm gonna be checking tiktok with no sound until the new song passes
I'm convinced Meghan Trainor was created in a test tube in some record label laboratory. I don't know why a record label has a laboratory, but apparently they do! She's just always seemed like such a corporate plant. Or maybe she's a robot? Idk but something weird is goin on I tell ya what
I don't use tiktok (deleted it last year) but it's so obvious when a mainstream artist writes a lyric in hopes that it'll become a tiktok trend. I liked anti-hero but when I heard the "it's me, hi" lyric I immediately thought "oh the tiktok girlies will love this one", and then I saw that TS herself was doing paid ads in my shorts feed trying to promote it as a trend. I cringed so hard, like it would totally have happened naturally but it's clear that everything in marketing is about tiktok now (which makes sense since that's where the biggest section of Internet users is, but I find it really irritating lol)
I thought the exact same thing! Interestingly, in a review of her new album, a critic said "there are no radio hits in here, and that makes it not a great album." But like, there's not supposed to be **radio** hits on the album, because this generation doesn't really listen to the radio. There are, however, meant to be several TikTok hits on the album, and for people who use TikTok, it's pretty clear which ones those are. On one hand I feel like that shows an understanding of who the audience is and where they get their music, but it's also a fundamental *misunderstanding* of how the audience interacts with music. If it's a song that works for a trend, the people will make it happen eventually (albeit maybe not at a time that's convenient for awards season). But if the people are told "go do our marketing for us and make this a trend!" it's going to feel cringe, inauthentic, and out of touch. And when lyrics are written with the underlying vibe of "you're gonna make this a trend, right? C'mon, you know you wanna" it cheapens the songs themselves, because it feels like they're marketing gimmicks rather than actual art. Love TS, but definitely wish she had let the trends happen organically rather than manufacturing them!!
@@byyrd806 ... tiktok definitely existed when folklore and evermore were created in 2020. they were just simply not pop albums, not meant to have chart-toppers
Another problem with TikTok and music is how a lot of users don't actually listen to the songs they're using. It can be funny sometimes though. For example, Parents by Yungblood got really popular amongst intolerant people for the line "I was born in a messed up century", but if you listen to the FULL song, its actually talking about how bad it is that people are intolerant and insensitive. Its interesting, but not as funny when you actually realize people can completely change the intentions of a song by omitting lyrics or not listening to the full song.
Yes! One example of this that’s infuriating was when “All You Wanna Do” from Six the Musical had a trend in which people compared their exes to their current partner. The song is about Katherine Howard, a young woman who was sexually abused as a child, and was taken advantage of as her family’s political pawn, being married off to Henry the Eight.
and how the next line is literally about his favorite DRUG!!! AN ADDICTIVE DRUGGG!!!! AMPHETAMINES!!!!!!!!!!!!! "a synthetic, addictive, mood-altering drug, used illegally as a stimulant and legally as a prescription drug to treat children with ADD and adults with narcolepsy."
@@supotter377 i know exactly two icp songs one is about necrophilia and the other i don’t know the meaning of but it’s called my axe so i have a pretty good guess how do you fuck that up
That TikTok from Halsey where she's talking about her label refusing to let her release her own song is so depressing. Why does her label think she needs to specifically market it through TikTok virality??? She's HALSEY. People will listen to the song, let her do what she wants EDIT: Just so you guys know, whether or not you like her music doesn't change that she's popular, nor the points I'm trying to make. I have barely listened to her music myself, but I'm still able to acknowledge the fact that she's popular, and that her music will do well regardless of it's TikTok-ness or my personal opinions (or yours!). The fact remains that labels stopping artists from releasing their own works over something like that is dumb.
This is the mindblowing thing about the music industry. We all assume that once you get to a certain point you get to call the shots. But then you realize most huge artists start their own label as soon as they can and I wonder if there might be a connection here.
The single worst part about Tiktokification is not the music itself (although there's definitely some stinkers), it's how it seems to have affected song length. ≤2.5Mins is a radio edit, not your full song. There's so many songs out there I really enjoy but then they're over just as I'm getting into it.
eh song length isn't an indicator for quality. the reason why pop songs used to be 3-4mins in the first place is because of the 45rpm vinyl record, that's just the amount of time that fits on a record like that. that's how the single was born. there is nothing inherently better about a 3.5min pop song than a 2.5min pop song, they're just different
As someone who loves pop punk, the recent "revival" we're seeing is depressing. Part of what made the first wave of pop punk so unique was that every band had a unique sound and style, whether in the instrumentals, their vocalists' voices, their lyrics, etc. Right now, every male pop punk singer sounds like MGK, every female singer sounds like Olivia Rodrigo, and both are writing those "pseudo-clever" lyrics that really aren't that deep.
honestly the problem with the "pop punk revival" is that so much of it... just isn't pop punk or doesn't feel like it. nothing wrong with that kind of music (mostly) but it's being treated as revolutionary when it's not
can you give me some songs you like? pop punk sounds interesting and since your saying that the new songs sound all the same i dont really try spotify playlists lol
@@Candle_Lights06 Early Blink 182, Bad Religion, Millencolin, Cauterizeare basically my go to pop punk bands but there are others that are good as well
The entire emo revival is a bit superficial and frustrating. The culture is so controlled by TikTok and nostalgia, suddenly we've got the Emo's not Dead cruise, furnace fest, when we were young, and now MCR is back, MGK gets way too much attention, Fall out Boy is through with their decade long pop-band break I guess (idk their single was more like their old stuff). Definitely feels like these mega punk bands will be doing a super bowl show in the near future if the fad isn't already dead again by then. Every punk and emo band to exist is finding it is profitable enough to do a reunion or get back together, which is partly exciting and good for them for sure. But the entire scene is something entirely different from what it used to be. It used to be unique, pretty counter culture, these artists made music because of how they felt or how it made them feel. Now it feels like it's all in our faces because it's profitable and popular. Or maybe I'm just old now and this is exactly the sort of things my parents said about the rock music I grew up with.
i've also noticed this weird dumbing-down of the language used in these viral songs. like instead of actually describing the artist's experience with, say, depression, the lyrics will literally just be something like "i'm always sad and i cry a lot, oh i feel so bad" and it all comes across as really.. juvenile? like it was written for a children's show. and in many cases it also comes across as disingenuous, like the artist doesn't actually know what the experience they are talking about is like but are still trying to capitalize on it.
you're right and its ironic. the name probably was referring to the fact that the videos end after a very short time frame, but the reality is that you just feel like " 'what's another minute' *scroll* " till you've watched close to a hundred of them.
If peoples lives were enjoyable to begin with, they would actively choose to do things other than scrolling tiktok for hours. It is because each generations lives are getting worse on average (after the silent generation, largely).
@@rdizzy1 how is this generation worse than the others? maybe its because we are exposed to more global news and events, but bad things have always happened. The internet is an addicting whirlpool, and it also sucks the joy out of people. How are people's lives not enjoyable in this generation?
Hey Gabi Balls, I think it's also worth Pointing out that music is not only getting shorter and being structured without a bridge, but music is also going back to how it was structured and timed almost 100 years ago. When jazz and country western music was popular in America the length had to be short and the structure almost never had a bridge. This was essential if you wanted your song to hit the radio and trend. Lil Nas X was actually aware of this when he wrote "Old Town Road". His song was structured just like an old western tune. Because of this and because of the popularity of the song, people are actually and inadvertently started using techniques in music we haven't seen used in the mainstream in years. P.S. Love the shirt!
I can 100% agree to everything said. Speaking, second handedly from experience, my boyfriend has been writing music for like 6 years now, and not a single one of his songs have popped off the way me and all his family and friends believe they should. It’s pretty tiring already trying to make the songs 100% by himself, occasionally having help from his other musically inclined friends(and I love seeing them collaborate!) but he always is exhausted trying to post his music onto any platform he can, and he’s tried Tik tok. He tried the gimmicky posts, and got no where(though now he hates that he did that lol) and even just tried being genuine and posting asking people to check him out and playing bits of his favorite songs he’s written. He’s still writing music, but man, he deserves so many more people to hear his writing. He’s such a genuine writer, and writes with so much emotion and thought behind each song, even to go to write stories for his upcoming albums. We’re going to try some new ways of reaching new people, like just posting the art. Because his music is art to be art. And all he wants is people to hear his stuff, and I want people to hear his stuff. His art is pure emotion and love put into it. (If anyone wants to hear him, we’d love to have you, CZcams and Spotify all under Bunbine❤️💜)
I'm checking him out right now!! I haven't listened to too many of his songs yet, but from what I heard his music is really good!!! He deserves to have his music heard, I'm wishing him luck with his musical journey🫶
I Don't Know How But They Found Me is my favorite band for my lil evil ocs Allie X is my favorite for developing backstory, I'm not well versed enough in music to understand why shes just so good for it. MARINA is also good but more like big story developments.
absolutely agree. Especially when they, instead, repeat the chorus 2/3 times at the end. That can be fine if you mix up the choruses a little and make them different from each other - but in so many newer songs its just the same chorus. Over and over again.
As a long time Kpop stan, it's sad to see labels being pressured to produce tiktok/viral-friendly music in these past 2-3 years like it's so cringe and a lot of groups lost their styles because of this pressure :////
yes also choreography specially made to be a tik tok challenge, Sunmi(solosit)said it herself that when she released heartburn the choreo was simple because her agency said so. And it makes me so heartbroken because you clearly see that many of these artists really want to put out cool music but their agency blocks them. Fortunately there are still a few groups, even popular ones(for example ateez)that don't conform their songs or choreo for the sake of tik tok :)
And now everyone has started doing those challenges that it's starting to get boring at this point, I am happy they are interacting but it's just way too much at this point. Also the lyrics are all so repetitive
even as a newer kpop stan (i got into it at the beginning of the year so its been over six months but still compared to other fans thats very new lol) i recognized this pretty quickly and it makes me sad tbh. wish companies would just let their groups make music that they enjoy and think is good, not worrying about whether it’ll “go viral on tiktok” or something like that. sadly it isnt any of the actual groups’ decisions, they just listen to what their label tells them to do (which makes sense ofc). im happy that most of the groups i like havent done this tho, like another reply mentioned a good example would be ateez :)
As an independent musician, I hate that the only way I can promote my work is by reducing it to short form content. When I make a song 2-3 minutes long, I actually want people to hear the whole thing, not just 15s. The ability to self-produce, promote, and distribute all from a bedroom/through a phone has made music WAY more accessible which is great! But it sucks that pandering to social media is now just as important as the quality of a song if you want it to get heard.
Well it's great but it floods the market. Usually when markets get flooded the quality stuff doesn't rise to the top. The music industry sucks but at least at one time the set a quality threshold. Now nobody cares, if it makes money it's good, it's sad tbh.
couldn't have said it any better. i don't want to be one of those tiktok one hit wonders with cheesy lyrics because they only put thought into one line
As an independent artist, I hear you! It’s so tough to make things and realize people will only listen to 15s of it and form an opinion on that now. Sent some music to a friend and they only listened to the chorus and nothing else
Meh. Not much different than writing for the labels. Been a thing since the 60s. Real music will always exist. It might not be as popular, but as long as people aren't robots, real music will exist
I would literally die to hear a new song that sounds like a 2010s pop song again. Lady gaga, katey perry, flo rida, pit bull, kesha, p!nk, jason derulo, ellie goulding, rihanna, kelly clarkson made so many good hits and i want them back
I had a bias against them when I was younger and wouldn't listen to them- I still don't listen to pop that much, but if I could hear them on the radio again instead of the BS on there right now, I would cry.
i miss bridges!! as a songwriter, writing bridges is so fun and i miss when they were more integral to music. i think songs are becoming shorter in general, largely because of tiktok. there’s nothing wrong with short songs or songs without bridges but often hit songs barely pass the 2 minute mark nowadays. that’s fine for some songs but a lot of “tiktok songs” end up feeling unfinished.
songs traditionally were under three minutes (this stopped being the standard in the seventies) but they at least had meaningful lyrics, now a lot of those short songs are just a weird chorus and a bunch of random sentences 😂
I'm SO glad you showed the clip of Halsey being mad about her label wanting her to make tiktoks for So Good!!! I know a lot of people didn't believe her about it at the time, but even after the song came out and she was touring she would talk about it before she played it at shows and you could definitely tell she was still kinda mad about the whole thing. it's sad to me that established and successful artists like her are seemingly being made to try to manufacture a viral moment when they really don't need to
here's the thing. labels are company's. they work for money. they want success. their job is to keep up with what's relevant and promote as well as possible. i understand that there's a side to it that forces artists into a box. but it still benefits them in many ways. like im sure halsey complaining ON TIKTOK helped in pushing her song. because even that was still her marketing herself to others.
Fun fact: "Old Town Road" did NOT start on tiktok but on yt Lil Nas X was just messing around on yt and it ended up blowing up and then Billy Ray heard it and asked to do a deal with him.
I have been desapointed so many times because I hear a song in tiktok, I love it, and when I look for the full version of it I discover there is nothing more, just the corus over and over again and random lines in between.
As a musician, I think the removal of bridges is actually a bad thing. The bridge is very important for building tension and building up to the ending. It's where the most emotion is. Without it, the song feels bland.
I happened to hear the song that’s like “Victoria’s Secret lied to me” on the radio whilst in an Uber back in November and was genuinely shocked at how gimmicky it felt. My friends proceeded to inform me this song had been popular for months (it was the first time I was hearing it), I had to sit back and try to verbalize what I disliked so much about it. You saying the gimmick thing gives a name to it, but it really is just the tip of the iceberg. Similar to the “I hate Disney” one, the deeper you go into the verses the more perplexed you are and it does follow that format of repeating the chorus an almost ridiculous amount bc there’s so little else to the song. I don’t want to just blindly dunk on stuff, but it all feels very corporate
The sentiments, I 100% agree with. The first few listens it made me feel heard and validated, but after that I saw how embarrassingly simple and shallow the songs were, even when discussing a deeper topic.
I had the same experience listening to the “Cinderella is a CEO”. The artist removed what made the characters the characters-removed Tianas passion for cooking and made her a biomed student. It cheapens everything. The sentiment I understand, but the execution was gimmicky, like it was being sold to me
The funny thing is, the Victoria's Secret song is an example for me of a TikTok song that feels like it came from a place of genuine passion on the part of the artist, since in the lyrics she talks about her previous struggles with body image and eating disorders. It's definitely gimmicky but at least it felt earnest in that gimmick, like it was intended to say something rather than just be repeated for the sake of it
I miss bridges and i also miss when songs were generally 4-6 minutes long. Now a lot if music hits 2-3 minutes. I hope we can have a resurgence of the longer music with bridges and guitar/bass solos
i think this is why Marina stands out to me... like she writes good soul-filled music. Ancient Dreams goes from talking about women's rights to self-acceptance and sass to saying goodbye to yourself as you grow and change to how sometimes you can be a happy loner to driving around in a pink convertible while the world is on fire and we're just desperately trying to ignore it. and the songs of hers that did go viral while yeah having that moment they're all much deeper. despite most of em being from her first two albums. and she loves a good bridge lol.
@@SolaceWhore considering i was talking about Marina i was referring to her 4 albums which I've heard all of. I usually skip a few songs in the first half of love+fear and a few songs from fruit. But really even if i had only heard one album and i didn't skip any tracks from it it would be one of the albums with 0 skips regardless of how many albums exist. It's you who can't conceptualize that someone may like something and the fact music taste is subjective. From how you talk I'd assume you're an ild fart who's wife is cheating on him with a hunk she works with but you secretly like it cause you deep down know you don't deserve her.
One of my favorite songs, Mind Over Matter by Young the Giant, which came out in 2014 recently came onto my fyp, and it was the bridge which is absolutely beautiful. And the song has such a beautiful message that lots of people interoperate in different ways. My heart flutters a little bit whenever I see someone use this song on a video.
I love Young The Giant! Mind Over Matter is one of my favorites by them too. If you like that one, and haven't heard it already, I reccommend Art Exhibit. Beautiful song!
Remember when MTV first came out and everyone was all "aw man, now ugly people can't make music and be successful" and now it's "aw man, now only the most artificially enhanced, meme driven, lucky individuals who make their song pander to an audience with no attention span or cultural staying power"
wait I just realized that MTV and other channels were the only way to see videoclips to songs wtf. in my head MTV was always an addition for if you wanted to see artists perform live or as background music but when a new song released that was actually the only way to see the videoclip?! I feel very gen z
Kind of perfect that this video came out right after Meghan Trainor posted a video showing off a song that's very obviously the most made-specifically-for-tiktok song in human history
She is so spot on with this whole video. I'm in instrumental music , where you would expect this to happen less often , but even here you hear traditionally classical musicians trying to simplify each song , so to be easily digestible by the algorithm. I always remember that one story about "Hotel California" where some music producer told the Eagles nobody would ever listen to a 6 minute pop song. But they loved their creation and released it in its entirety
For anyone looking to distance themselves from this trend, I would highly recommend finding any artist/artists that you have a casual interest in and listening to an album all the way through, in order. What you will begin to find is 1) the "viral hits" and singles are almost never the best songs and 2) you'll get suggestions to be able to build a repertoire of artists that genuinely is unique to you. I know this may seem like basic advice, but a lot of folks may not have thought to do something like this.
Agreed! I highly recommend listening to Poor Mans Poison's other songs besides 'Hell's Comin' with Me'. 'Feed the Machine', and 'Give and Take' are both really good.
My 13 year old sister loves those gimmicky songs, which is another fascinating layer to look through this. They’re marketing towards kids/young teenagers bc if they’re successful, they could potentially create a fan base that will last for years. Idk there’s just something kind of yucky about it. Especially when you’ve got lyrics like “twinkle twinkle little bitch”. But at the same time, I would have ate up those “twisted nursery rhymes” when I was that age too (and I did. The Barney song anyone??)
I hate you, you hate me, let's go out and kill Barney! With a baseball bat and a 4x4, NO MORE PURPLE DINOSAUR! 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 (also i think theres more, but i cant remember)
@@kawaiiwolf4724 now that you mentioned Bob the Builder, I thought of that lyric from Build a bitch 'Bob the Builder broke my heart, told me I need fixing. Said that I'm just knots and bolts, lot of parts were missing'
i hate u u hate me lets team up and kill barney with a one shot two shot three shot four no more purple dinosaur OR i hate u u hate me lets team up and kill barney with a great big gun and you shoot him in the head purple dino is now dead
This is a way better take than just the "music is getting worse because something something attention spans something something video games." This makes so much more sense, so thanks for putting it out here.
One thing I also dislike due to the TikTokification of music is the fact how people nowadays tend to sing like. Everything has to be cute, mumbled and edgy. I have difficulties knowing which artist is which because they all sound the same to me, mainly because of two things, the modern production and the singing style promoted by TikTok. I mean, the girl from the PS5 song is the best example. It just sounds so typical for the current era and I really really hate it. It destroys everything. My bf is a vocal coach and he was talking to his collegues the other day. They all were so frustrated because their students are literally learning wrong techniques because they wanna sound like TikTok singers, resulting in an unnatural and HARMFUL way to sing, which is incredibly hard to get rid of again. There is so much singing potential locked behind this current sound ideal, which is just frustrating. 90% of the songs would sound so much better to me, if people would sing PROPERLY.
YES!!! As a second-language English speaker I hate hearing those mumbled things, I literally don't know what they're saying and everything feels the same. They're all just clones of each other, mumbling stuff about depression and breakup and whatever... I listen to metal so, naturally, there isn't stuff like this in my favs, but I just can't understand how someone could like a song that sounds like the singer has their jaw tendons a bit too short :/
Artists who write songs for themselves rather than virality are also gaining stable fanbases, compared to artists who get famous quick on tiktok and then fail to reach that level of success once more - quality will always be a leading factor in who chooses to listen to what.
Agreed. The artists that actually deserve recognition for their creativity and good lyrics are still the ones dominating the industry and consistently staying at the top, like Billie Eilish. So, technically, it's not such a huge problem.
12:08 you hit the nail on the head here. I've not come across a lot of "Tiktok" music thanks to my autism and my taste being specifically niche, but a lot of popular music I hear these days sounds like "commercial music". As in not music that is commercial, but music meant for commercials. They sound like bad ad jingles meant to be forgotten as soon as the ad is taken off the air.
@@assassin8636 I don't know, I can barely differentiate between popular songs these days and a hip new product's ad jingle, which were anyway meant to be 15 second music snippets with a hook or two and maybe a sound byte.
@@assassin8636it is literally commercial music with a "people can relate to this" gotcha moment. the music you hear lately is just about shitty exes, it's as repetitive as youtube ads and comments like yours.
Me and my sister were in the car once and we heard what we thought was a new, catchy song come on the radio, and we were so excited to hear something new that might not be completely awful. It was a Febreeze ad.
gen z here again. Cant be bothered to download tik tok after i watched some guy overdose on camera (likely not lethal but it still made my stomach turn) and i deleted it. i think it was back in 2020 and esp after i turned it off i realized i’d just been sitting there for 4 hours like a zombie, staring at my phone and it only felt like half an hour. It hurts me seeing my sister zone out while we’re watching a movie bc her attention span went to shit. Also i havent yet finished the video so idk if she mentioned this but have yall noticed songs used to be like just over 3 mins in the 2000s, then the 2010s extended to closer to 4 mins and now most released these days suddenly reduced to under 3? My only suspicion is tik tok just bc how it favours this short form content.
Something I've noticed is that the emotions have been dumbed down too. I feel like a lot of music is not embracing negative emotions like sadness or grief. We're always forced to listen to upbeat, catchy or surface level music. I can't find any new music to listen to when I'm down or need a good reflection session. You have a few gems here and there but even then they are so repetitive to flow well in to TikTok.
I've have been saying that bridges were truly the best parts of songs and its one of the reasons I really like kpop because they're gonna give you a bridge and it's gonna hit just about every time
I didn't know what a bridge was before this video and I have to agree with this (70% of the time) Edit: tho bridges are pretty important for making the final chorus feel special
I've really liked how AJR hanfpdles their tiktok. The song feels well written and normal, and then they make fun tiktoks about the creation process and using snippets. They seem to enjoy it, so it isn't hurting anyone.
music means so much to me. the fact it’s becoming a giant factory is so upsetting to me. the joy of listening to music is hearing people’s personal stories and experiences, along with beats that perfectly fit the mood. hearing these generic ass trap drums over “oooo i miss my boyfriend oooo” makes me so mad. WHY DO YOU MISS HIM? WHY DOES IT HURT? HOW DID IT HAPPEN? if you actually care about your music, make it something that’s part of you. not ever song needs to be danceable, not every song needs to be about love, hell, not every song needs to be famous. all that matters is that you put your absolute best effort into very song. it doesn’t sell, but it’s more real than these manufactured singers.
Already see someone coming in with a "don't care" reply to this. The last 3 sentences you said are exactly why I love NF. Apart from the insanely layered instrumentals by Tommee Profitt, the music is about him and his growth, it's his escape from his own past which in return means he puts so much emotion into the delivery on each and every one of his tracks.
That's why I started listening to classical music in 2021 as all of the most popular songs became about a relationship between a girl and a guy, like I don't WANT to know what happenned between you and your partner I just like the chord progression and the melody is nice, classical music does not have any lyrics (except operas) hence it makes me feel raw emotion when I listen to it. It makes me create a story around the melody and I think that is much more moving. Anyway I'm glad I did move away because pop music has become even more repetitive nowadays.
I would call myself a musician and i just get kinda sad from looking at how much artists in general have to "fake" themselves for their art. And doing something cringy that gets you attention IS objectively better than getting none but its still kinda sad idk
Nothing new tbh. Gimmick bands and trend hunting have been existing forever in the music industry. The predatory lable agent who tells you to change everything about you is a cliche for a reason.
one thing that kills me is seeing an "indie" artist promote their stuff, talking about how they've been making music forever and really want to make it in the industry, then you look into them and they're signed by UMG lmao
you can be registered with UMG, Sony etc without being signed to a label or having any funding behind you! I’m registered with Sony and have a publishing license with them but I don’t receive any other help from Sony or any money so independent artists being registered with Ascap, UMG etc doesn’t mean they aren’t independent or fighting to make a living from music
I think a good is example of "gimmicky" writing without feeling dumbed down is the "Crybaby" and "K-12" albums of Melanie Martinez. One part of this is just that her songs are about more serious things, but it's also that she uses extended metaphors. When she compares her body to cake, she doesn't just do it for a line and then move on. The whole song is her describing how someone used her body for quick calories and then left. She has a reason she picked this particular comparison for a reason, abd lets it guide her songwriting process from there. (I'm a writer; it's my job to over-analyze ❤)
I really wanted mad at disney to keep going as it explored the experiences of a girl becoming a woman and realizing the more complicated realities of a relationship, and feeling lied to by childhood fantasies. That’s an amazing concept that is just so heavily wasted here.
theres a difference between album concepts and gimmicks and i wish more people would do concept albums theyre so good please tell me a story or follow a theme
Tiktok actually has way more problems than producing cringe songs, most viral trends are problematic, overall it just gives me such a bad experience scrolling through it
They also cover up genocides in China! I've seen TikToks mentioning the Uyghur genocide in China get censored by ByteDance themselves, and TikToks BY UYGHUR PEOPLE THEMSELVES where they're crying and only 5 emojis are on the screen. You know what those are? Emojis to represent concentration camps, family members being taken away, and even deaths. Those emojis are to avoid censors or responses by the government. I'm a musician, and I refuse to ever touch that app. (Granted Instagram and Facebook/Meta have also abetted genocides in other parts of the world too)
@@popcelebritiyoh boy OH BOY buddy you don’t know how bad the music industry is right now Streaming fucked it six ways from Sunday, but pays artists nothing.
I'm not really a tiktok user so I haven't seen this change as much in music, but I recall seeing the exact same complaints from writers about publishers forcing them to market their own books via tiktok, to write for virality, etc. There's been a definite shift in how I see books getting marketed towards what works on tiktok, and even that one writer who got her book published because her tiktok about it blew up (it was in the exact same vein of "what if there was a [book/song] about: ..." which I find funny). Sad to see how much artists/art is influenced by trends or what sells, but when you're making your money off your art I can see why you'd have to
oh god those tiktoks too, where theyre like "OKAY STORY TIME:" and just start telling a simplified version of their book but dont reveal it till the end and then link their book.
Marketing books via tropes instead of plot like it's fucking fanfic drives me up the wall. (And I say this as someone who writes and reads and loves fanfic.)
I remember the spotification made songs starting with the chorus common and watching the tiktokification taking away my bridges AND making verses and pre chorus so so SO short hurts my soul. deeply.
I miss the days of instrumental hooks being the way a song would start. Basically all of the classic MJ and Stevie Wonder songs started out this way (as did most songs for about 50+ years across all mainstream genres). The MJ/Quincy Jones method of every layer and moment being a hook made the songs much more cohesive and impactful than a lot of this Tik Tok music (which often only has time for one 15sec hook per song). The whole song suffers for the sake of a single hook.
@@chloeme3589 If a hook is a musical idea that is used to catch the attention of the listener then in context of pop an instrumental hook would be any musical idea that isn't meant to just be supplementary but is itself supposed to be catchy. Now this can be a riff (a constantly repeated musical phrase) or it could even be just how recognisable the sound of something normally mundane is. A perfect example of this, in my opinion, is Billy Jean. That drum intro is so iconic but it's just a simple backbeat. It's the attack and the overall mix of the drums that makes it immediately ear catching. Then that bass line riff comes in (that has become so many bassists first bass line because of how effortlessly cool it sounds), then the synths come in but they're not just playing chords they're playing another concrete musical idea that you can sing. Throughout the song it is just moment after moment of singable lines that can get stuck in your head (just from the instrumental). Another perfect example is Superstition (the instantly recognisable drums, the clav intro, the bass line, the horn line in the second half of the verse, even the chord progression of the chorus is so unique that it becomes a sound that is returned to during the fade out). The point is really building a song from singable ideas instead of just laying down a beat and instrumental as a bed to sing on top of. The reason MJ could do this is because he literally sang all of his musical ideas onto tape and it was the job of Quincy Jones and his musicians to take those ideas and give them the extra arrangement sauce they needed. Really a good rule of thumb is anything that is easily singable can be incredibly catchy if implemented in the song well.
@@jeremylatta9038 I deeply appreciate you describing this in such good words and details. I'll listen to the songs but your description was already eye-opening. As a musician this opens so many doors, it's like a missing puzzle piece. I come up with random melodies and will record those upon happening but usually only translate those into my vocals. I really admire your musical attentiveness. All that's good to you! May the universe or whatever you believe in bless you. This is great.
@@chloeme3589 You're welcome! Finding inspiration by studying the greats is always a beautiful thing. In fact that's how the greats became great. Art is heritage for us all!
@@chloeme3589 If you ever listened to rock music before for example, that's literally just a riff (usually a repeated guitar phrase before the verse starts). Most rock songs have a riff / instrumental beginning. Sometimes it's a guitar, sometimes drums or bass. In the case of Michael Jackson and other artists sometimes it starts with a synth line. It depends, but it's present in so many forms of music, it's actually a bit surprising you never paid attention to that.
That's why I love small artists. The people just sitting infront of a camera and singing their song, playing guitar, making you feel something. They feel real. You can tell they're doing it because they love it, and they think other people might like it too.
i love listening to small artists, which is why i'm starting to use soundcloud a bit more rather than spotify, it's so much easier to branch out on soundcloud
I’m so glad someone is finally talking about it. Especially as someone who studied music and music theory for a long time, the entire structure of a song has changed. Every song is the length of what used to be an interlude, it’s very interesting to watch music change before my eyes. Everything that I learned while growing up in music school has changed.
i was driving the other day and i had the alternative rock station on. i deadass almost drove off the road because AS IT WAS BY HARRY STYLES came on. can someone please tell me why harry styles is on the ALTERNATIVE ROCK station 😭😭
TikTok has watered down genre labels to the point that anything that isn’t 100% pure pop is suddenly alt rock. It’s disgusting and insulting. I cannot stand this cheapening of genre labels!
The whole 'one line'/'hook line' thing has been a huge part of kpop, also known as a killing part. I've been noticing some of these 'trends' existed in kpop for a long time before, stuff like trend dances (started with chok chok dance iirc). Same with the changes of structure, starting with a chorus (nct have been doing this a lot). I wonder if the western industry has noticed what makes kpop songs popular and taken from it. And it works because a lot of kpop fans are on TikTok as well I think edit: typo correction - was supposed to type 'nct' but autocorrect changed it to 'not'.
But I also noticed k-pop dances becoming more like TikTok dances. Happened to ITZY with sneakers, Aespa with girls, Nayeon with the pop dance 😭 like what are we doing 🙁 I loved watching itzy and aespas complex choreographies but it’s just been so stale and plain. Like they barely move their legs!
Yes! I have followed kpop for almost a decade now, it has always been a thing. From "Sorry Sorry" from Super Junior and"Fantastic Baby" from Big Bang, to Cheer Up, Signal and TT from Twice. And honestly I like it better when they do it, because most of the times there's a whole concept behind the album, and it isn't solely made to hit on tiktok.
Those were my thoughts exactly when watching the video!! Also I feel like a lot of kpop songs nowadays tend to have extremely catchy one-liners that trend very well. Like a lot of Stray Kids songs are a good example of that
I've also noticed how this has completely globalized music even more. The way western artists are collabing with artists from all over the world so easily now. It's also making songs from other countries go viral in a way that hadn't happened before and I think that's a great tiktokification of music!
@@ictogon I’ve seen one example where this creator would spin a wheel with a whole bunch of different countries on it, and then would research some “up and coming” music artists from that place and make a song with them. At the end of the series they all collaborated on one big song. So they had people from several continents all working together, and imo that is pretty cool
I think it also americanizes some songs. It happened a lot before, but I notice a ton of newer songs that use references or words that are very american. On the other hand there are also some hits in other languages or from international that show a whole genre to people who didnt know of it before, which is really cool.
@@claracclenky @Clara C Clenky For sure, and it has also happened historically for example with hollywood making american films popular internationally. I do feel like pop culture references and these song gimmicks are pushing that even more. They are meant to be appealing to as many people as possible but still use an american point of view as default.
Thanks for mentioning the fact that songs were getting shorter before even the internet. The radio and sometimes an early record player were often the only sources of electronic entertainment a family had. You were meant to sit and experience the music in full and nothing else. Like politely listening to a talented orchestra. That was music. Now it's nearly unheard of for us to listen to music without also doing something else.
whats worse is when songs from small artists randomly blow up on tiktok but thats the only song theyve ever made that blows up, as the tiktok users never actuallly check out other songs
Yungatita is the most painful example of this, with 7 Weeks and 3 Days (easily one of her WORSE songs) having tens of millions of listens on Spotify while the rest is 10k listens below
oh my god.. Orange Sector with farben. I've loved OS to death for ages, and i have never felt such a range of emotions watching it get popualr on tiktok. Initial joy, at watching their monthly listeners go up, and audio uses skyrocket Confusion, on how the song quickly got attatched to a specific character 8 seconds of the song are now used exclusively for thirst trap edits of that one character, and their other titles are gaining no popularity. The song stops being assosiated with the artist entirely- The song grows so disconnected from the artist, that it becomes it's own entity. The band's initial growth slows down dramatically, but the tiktok reach only expands. idk it was kind of crazy
I was just talking about this the other day with someone, we could name several new songs that follow this. The main one that we thought of was Anti Hero by Taylor Swift. Now I love Taylor, but the line “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me” was 100% written for tik tok. Hopefully in the future, the more main stream songs won’t be as gimmicky
@@kphoria1009 i'll blame her ! she's literally taylor swift, she is incredibly less desperate for streams than some unknown indie artist desperate to make it in the music scene. sooo yeah, it is super fucking noticeable when someone as established as her does it because there’s literally no excuse to dumb down her songs. it's embarrassing !
Okay, but isn’t the song even more popular now because of tiktok? We can’t blame her, she just wants the best for her music and get it out there, of course this is benefiting her and not hurting anyone. We should just support her that she’s doing good on one of her songs!
I think it also limits artists to narrow topics and styles - it's gotta feel fun, danceable, catchy, and often simplistic/memorable lyrics. Less variety of mood, lyrical content, and style, when everything is geared toward being a dance or trend or challenges. And as a musician who is down with dark, slow, moody tunes, it's hard to navigate this landscape or even get noticed unless you sell your creative soul to these algorithms. 😿
@@kphoria1009 sure but most trendy song (parts) do feature more simple lyrics or have something with impact like a drop. Slower songs might even get sped up, so I can see why this artist feels their music falls outside of that
I quit TikTok back in August of 2022, though for reasons besides this. Gotta be honest, I love it. I feel happier now, I’m less depressed, less paranoid and hopeless; I’m not trying to achieve success that I had somehow grasped before; my attention span has been trying to recover; and so much more. It’s so nice to be off that hellsite once and for all.
I've never used TikTok, but you can see this effect everywhere. I feel like a boomer for saying it at the ripe old age of 22, but people just don't have patience anymore. There's the obvious stuff of retention span, but streaming services giving us access to thousands of different shows and movies; having 1-day delivery times as the expected norm; and take-away food an app away, have just made us more lazy. You don't sit down at a PC to go onto a forum or whatever - you just open an app on your phone. Even the news is more and more desperate for the next scoop to then get clicks, even if it's just complete fiction. Which is forcing politics to become equally rushed, vile, and just apathy-inducing (just look at the UK at the moment, Jesus...). The near-constant accessibility of the internet through smartphones is ruining us. The iPhone doomed us. Hear ye, hear ye: the end is nigh. Okay, time to watch more CZcams when I should be sleeping. Great video, Gabi.
This is just how pop music works, pop literally stands for popular. Pop is and always has been centered around trendy culture because that is what it is by definition. No shit the trendiest app is going to produce its own brand of gimmicky pop music. This isn't a brand new phenomenon
@@themothman3726 Wow, pop is an abbreviation for the word popular? Shocking. You've neglected that I didn't make the video, and that I was talk about society as a whole - not music. I didn't even mention pop music. So, thanks for a reply that's irrelevant to my comment, I guess.
you make a great point here. love this analysis 👏 we are becoming more lazy and consuming more like the big companies want. it's all about money and less about quality/artistry
Yep, I'm 23, and it feels so weird to be talking like a boomer, but I do honestly find it unsettling how it feels like in the last few years stuff like TikTok and Uber Eats and all these instant gratification services went from a handy or fun distraction to omnipresent and dominating everything, all the time.
yep. I saw this comment section on instagram talking about how msot people can't eat a meal without watching tv or scrolling their phones, and it was so surreal because the VERY few people who were like "when I eat i focus on my food and nothing else" were the ones who were treated like THEY were weird and abnormal??? like it really concerned me
AH, this makes me feel so old. Growing up, I remember it becoming more and more the case that the focus of pop music was on the single and not the whole album. And now we're at a point where the focus ain't even on the whole song anymore.
i'm gonna be the person that complains about the kpop side of this too something i LOVE about kpop is the teasers. teasers are SO fun, before an album drops, to get to hear just a tiny little bit of a song- sometimes it's just the instrumental, sometimes it's a few adlibs, sometimes the teasers sound nothing like the songs that come out and i love it. i love the mystery and the way the album drop gets so hyped up. but because of tiktok, it's so rare to get teasers like this anymore. it's takes so much fun out of a group's comeback for me, the fact that there's a dance challenge with the chorus already circling tiktok before the song even gets released. i HATE that i end up basing whether or not i think a song is even good, before the actual whole album drops or the song even comes out. it takes me forever to want to listen to a full title track or an album because i have this gut feeling, from the random snippets of the song that got popular on tiktok before the song even came out, that the song is going to be terrible. i want that fun feeling back, clicking on a comeback's music video the second it drops and not having barely an inkling of an idea of what it'll sound like. there's like this magical mystery feeling. can we petition to stop promoting kpop songs like this it really stinks
I have literally been saying this for YEARS. As a classically trained vocalist and a songwriter I noticed it with a few songs where I was like "Oh this could be a very good song, I can't wait for it to come out." and it just becomes that ONE PART. W.I.T.C.H. is a good example of this because it's such a good song concept but it literally is just the TIKTOK that she recorded. It's so sad this is what music has become. I want 3 minute + songs. not these songs that last 1.5 minutes and have no sustenance.
There is a lot of pushback to this type of music, so it’ll lose popularity. Ultimately people will only listen to stuff they like. And lots of people don’t like this type of music and marketing
i saw a short the other day saying,“i wrote this song about a guy who hurt my best friend and played it for her”. it was sooooo cheesy and cliche and all the comments were like “here for it! this is amazinggg”.
thank you for making a video on this!!! i've been thinking about this for a while and decided to write my final paper on this cultural phenomenon, and i am using this video as a source. i love your channel/work, you really put thought behind what you're talking about and i appreciate it :)
When a music blows up on tiktok it automatically became so disposable. You can hear the song the day it was released, loved it, relate so much to the lyrics, create an emotional bond with it, but if the song becomes a trend on tiktok people will see you listening to it and be like: "so you like tiktok music, huh?" Tiktok literally ruins so many good songs bcu'z many people nowadays don't even listen to the music they are dancing to while making those stupid challenges, they don't even care if the music is good or not since they're only doing it cuz' it's popular. One of my biggest and stupidest fears now is that my favorites songs become a trend on Tiktok, cuz' i know it will lose all the meanig of it and will be automatically labeled as "Tiktok music".
Genuinely, this is also one of my biggest fears. Having songs or media I seriously enjoy getting so popular it’s “cringey” and “overplayed” is irrationally terrifying and reasonably frustrating. I’m all for people enjoying the things I like, but only when they care for it as a song and not a fleeting trend
Same thing for books for me, like every time I see a book I genuinely love end up on the “booktok” table at Barnes and noble I get filled with rage that one of my favorites is going to be cheapened and recycled endlessly until the original is meaningless
My new fear is that some song of a underrated artist that i like became viral and then when the artist do a concert the concert's tickets sell out quickly because people who only are going to the concert for a popular song instead of people who have been fans for years
why do you care what others think? if you like a song, listen to it. It doesn't matter if its popular or not. It doesn't matter if others think you just like "tiktok music".
"A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music uses to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, I could make those people dance and they'd be happy for a while." That's what resonated in my mind, clear as a bell, when you talked about there being so few verses in a song these days. American Pie didn't get popular until the 70s, because it was too long to fit on a standard 3-4 minute record for radio, which is why most songs are 3-4 minutes long. But I am saddened at the thought of no one making music like that anymore. "But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside, the day... the music... died."
I love that song so much, it tells a story but the chorus is also catchy and I think that's what I like about it. The verses change in tone each time and the chorus is also different at the beginning, in the middle and the end. Really great song!
I’m so glad that this is being talked about. Music back in like 2005 and even a few years after that time was really good, but now it feels so unfinished and kind of dry, like the lyrics aren’t hitting like they used to. It just feels like I’m either listening to the same type of song with the same message over and over again by a variety of other artists (sort of recycling a concept but trying to interpret it as their own thing/experience as well?), or its a song that is sampling off of another song but it just doesn’t sound right yk? (Recycling another person’s beat/chorus line into their own music) there are good sample-used songs, example like Tom’s Diner and Centuries share the same sample, both are awesome songs in their own right, and use the sample perfectly imo because they don’t use that one line in the chorus as a crutch, the rest of the song is actually good, it has a story as I like to think of it and good to play just for the vibe. Anyways, music be lackin, but there are some good songs I listened to that were from TikTok and released on Spotify recently, so they aren’t all bad.
When TikTok users say "I need the full version now!" on an original song, I feel like most of them just want what they heard on loop 🤷🏻♀️
This! My friend shared with me a popular TikTok cover of Judas by Lady Gaga done on electric guitar and it was really just the main riff on loop for 2 minutes, I was so disappointed
They’d love Seven Nation Army by that logic
@@notproductiveproductions3504 PLEASE DONT SHOW THAT SONG TO THEM
@@montage.of.heck. they’ve already heard it back in 2021, it was popular all over
@@Em1_ReN oh, thank god that was 2 years ago
One of the biggest problems is that it ages the music RAPIDLY. It goes from a new born to alzheimers in a week.
out of the ordinary I mean
Alexa where is the cracker barrel
Alexa cracker barrel near me
Alexa where is cracker barrel pennsylcania
Bc everybody uses the same audio while it’s still popular and run it into the ground
I’m so glad it’s not just me noticing the erasure of bridges. The bridges were so noticeable to me because they’d mark a big difference in the song. Now songs feel so much more repetitive.
I agree! I personally dislike when a song doesn't have a bridge. Some songs can pull it off but I do find new songs just all sound the same and don't have any individuality in their rhythm/lyrics. Having no bridge makes it sound idk worse? I miss the bridges bring that shit back.
I agree. I’m so so grateful and happy that my favourite artist of all time, Conan Gray, creates some of the most beautiful and prominent bridges I’ve heard
The bridge is always my favourite bit of the song. Genuinely so sad that people think getting rid of them is a good idea
@@SeaKnight_Rory I agree, it creates such a climax AND IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL, I PRAY that they never disappear
I agree, if you like bridges Dis-ease by the Bangtan Boys has a pretty good one.
I’m so sad that bridges are disappearing bc they’re almost always my favorite parts of songs😭
Same, they’re amazing and I don’t know why people are abandoning them 😭
Exactly, I’m pretty sure that’s the whole point of the bridge
At least Taylor is still going at it 😭
@@toastedgrams I love her for that 😭
Taking out bridges is like taking out the down part of rollercoasters. Turning it into 'coasters only.
Oh, this reminds me of a video of a Steve Lacy concert where the audience was happily singing along to the TikTok-popular chorus of "Bad Habit" and then went dead silent on the rest of the song
and when Taylor held The Eras Tour the first day, she got upset after hearing no one say 'Taylor, you'll be fine' [from The Bleachers remix]
I saw the video, his heart must’ve sunk into his chest when they went silent
That monkey shouldn't have acted that way. Ungrateful piece of s
Then they all started clapping 👏🏽 like the song was over.
Imagine clapping half way through a song. 😂
@@artistaroundtheblock2047that reminds me of every time I think someone is done talking and I try to walk.away but they keep going
My dad works as a DJ for a pub, and he's noticed that when people request a song and dance along for TikTok, it's normally only about two minutes long. The person who requested the song dances around with their phone for thirty seconds, then stands around like an NPC because the popular hook part is over.
😮U u u u u u u. Uu u. U😮u. Uu. Uu u. Uu. U u uu u u. U😮😮u. Uu. U uu. Uu. Uu u u u. Uu u u u u. Uu u u u u u u u u u. Uu u u. Uu u u u u u j
IPad babies ^
That’s so freaking depressing, no wonder 70s-2000s have such a chokehold on clubs, barely any good song to have a great time popped up since social media went from forum based sites to what we have today. Probably why KPop got so big as well.
this would’ve been so funny to witness 😭😭
Oh man! I remember in the 90s when a dance remix could go on for half an hour and people would still be dancing..!!
its like making music just to be a ringtone in the early 2000s
Your comment made me feel old, and I was born in 2001.
I miss the days of spending hours creating personalised ringtones. How simple life once was 😅
RINGTONE RAP IS COMING BACK 😭😭
I did not need to be called old today
I'm surprised Soulja Boy hasn't taken advantage since, lol
another problem is that a single line can completely alter the way the song is perceived and the tone. I remember Hozier’s song “Eat Your Young” got really popular for the first couple lines for being a “hot and sexy” song but if you actually listen to it, it has a lot of undertones on how we’re consuming the life from younger generations.
To be fair this has happened a lot in the past, "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins, "Rockin' in the Free World" by Neil Young, "The One I Love" by REM, to name a few.
It's so strange!!! I was wondering why that one especially was getting so much attention (I don't use tik tok) Cause I though Damage Gets Done and honestly, the rest of the album has considerably fewer people listening to it.... its so weird, because that whole album is fucking great!
Yeah eat your young reads to me like a gun control critique, not some sexy song
@@TheGoop22wait i had no idea today was about that lol i love that song. i watched the music video and always thought i was about not wanting a relationship to end or something.
Lmao what do you mean by undertones. The song is literally called "Eat your Young"
The tiktokifocation of music is the equivalent of the Adam Sandler method of writing a movie script. He comes up with ONE good joke or clever line and then writes a movie around it.
I heard he claims that he just finds a nice place to fuck around with his friends and uses making a movie as an excuse for it.
NGL, I kinda respect that. Would probably do the same
@@victormirandakoepke8352 we stan Adam Sandler. Especially for his fashion ✨
@@victormirandakoepke8352 i heard that too. I don’t know why this method can’t be conducive to making better movies, however. Would be nice.
Adam Sandler is a chill and humble dude so I still like him regardless
@@CosmizEve sure… making bad movies doesn’t make you a bad person.
The fact that Tiktokification is a word I can understand and comprehend is wild, imagine if you said that to someone 5-7 years ago
I feel like -ification can be added to many words and make sense
People would probably say “ah, I like that song by Ke$ha too, everyone should make music more like hers”
@@notsteve5927 It was a good song though. I feel like this type of sound is really missing nowadays but I am clearly biased as this was during my childhood.
@@Schlagageul Agreed. I'm not a huge fan of pop music but back when that song came out I was vitriolicly against it because I was a lame teenager. Yet I really loved that song even then and I still jam to it today
@@mocapcow2933 for sure it just sounds extra weird here for some reason
“Did I just make the song of the summer?” And it’s the most ear piercing traumatizing horrible horrifying terrible painful suffering death worthy AI generated ass sounding thing
OH MY GOD YOU PUT THE FEELING INTO WORDS SO PERFECTLY
Every time I drive with the radio on (why does it take forever to connect your phone when you're late) I literally feel like Stan in that one South Park episode where everything sounds like someone farted and shit into the mic💀💀💀
and its always about their ex that we do not give a shit about…
like no bro you didn’t.
Literalllyyyy
I think the worst part is going to a concert and watching people only sing along to one song that went viral on TikTok then going silent for the rest of the concert. I'm so passionate about music, so I'm happy that my favorite band is getting more recognition, but it's sad to feel alone in a huge crowd because everyone only knows one song that they heard on TikTok.
i remember steve lacy getting canceled(?) one time bc he got mad at his fans not knowing the lyrics of one his song at his concert😭
This is how I feel at Billy Joel concerts in recent years. I usually see him every 4-6 months for the last 8 or 9 years. Ever since Zanzibar went viral on TikTok in 2020, when he started doing shows again in 2021, you see a TON of late teens to twenty-somethings screaming the chorus to Zanzibar and then diddle on their phone the rest of the time. It's utterly agonizing. I've honestly wondered if it's one of the reasons he's ending the MSG residency besides the main reason, which is wanting to free himself from the contractual obligations.
Bro its crazy how I will bring up a song to kids at my school and they don't recognize the title of what I see as a classic song, I sing the "catchy" part and they go like "oh yeah I think I heard that in a tiktok" and i get so confused because like I am not a boomer. these are my peers???
unrelated but we have the same pfp!
Adding injury to that is the fact that those songs going mega viral makes the artist's tickets near impossible to buy only for half the audience to be this disengaged because they haven't bothered listening to anything else
At the same time, I love how TikTok can also boost old songs or songs considered "flops"
yoooo this is such a cool point I haven’t rly thought abt, tiktok is creating so many sleeper hits or resurfacing old hits now and I wonder if it’s a gradual rejection of the more current, purposely trendy music
This is such an awesome thing about tiktok. I feel like mainstream listeners have finally caught on to the way that more passionate music fans listen to songs... not "what's new" or "what you remember" but whats out there that I missed out on?
The Ankha Zone song was a forgotten song from the 1980s by Sandy Marton.
A lot of my favorite songs I found through tik tok!
Yesss, I love this aspect of it
I got off tiktok almost 6 months ago and it isn't just music, it's the way people speak, act, and entertain. I'm starting to understand why people hate it so much. It feels like my attention span is so short, I haven't been able to enjoy an album or any long form entertainment since short form content was introduced. Movies become boring, 4 min songs I love become Skippable, I never listen to my favorite albums anymore, shows that aren't structured like Family Guy become increasingly harder to watch as instant gratification is so normalized. It's wild
agreed! i havent used tiktok in almost a year, but its still EVERYWHERE and i hate it. it fucked up my attention span even more than it already was! i have to constantly be doing something else while watching something longer than 10 minutes
@moonbloom I had the same issues! I'm just now enjoying laid back things. But entertaining friends or company becomes frustrating with how small our attention spans are. I've tried movies, games, tv, but nothing accept for Funny Tiktok Compilations keeps them occupied. It's like keeping toddlers occupied but they have the ability to up and leave after an hour of social interaction.
I think youre right that it affects the whole way people act and speak, Ive never had tiktok but everyone except for one other person in my friend group does, and while I cant fully articulate the difference, SOMETHING about me and my one other tiktok free friend vs the others is just. Different. Our humor, our opinions, the way we consume stuff, certain things we are aware of that the others arent and vice versa... Sadly, for someone my age, not having tiktok genuinely puts a bit of a divide between me and my peers (or deepens the one that's already there, maybe)
@BLUES I'm 20 so I understand fully! It's probably the biggest divide. Imagine not even having social media in general. The divide would grow like wildfire for most people. I'm really lucky to have 2 different groups of friends. 1 on socials like Tiktok, or others who only use Facebook and CZcams. I speak in full carefully put together sentences but then others speak in references and small lingo like "It's Girly Pop" made 0 sense to me. I just see such a giant divide here and it's scary
Edit: I forgot to mention that people on tiktok tend to have really unified opinions. Especially with politics and social issues. You'll see people on tiktok have 1 unified opinion when there are 100 different ways to approach a situation or think about it.
I was walking around and some teenagers were hugging and some other random teens started yelling “W RIZZ W RIZZ”
The thing with Old Town Road is that he was a really smart, He pushed it out as a song to accompany memes on tiktok and discord and was able to get ppl interested in the song with small snippets. Than once it was on the charts, he allowed ppl to remix it constantly, because of a remix gets popular it keeps the original in the charts.
And he released a new version of it just as the old one was dropping off to keep buzz going. A regular video, then a lyroc video, then a country collab, then a hip hop collab. Etc.
"He was a really smart" enjoy inploding, in game
I'm actually a huge fan of Lil Nas X and I absolutely hate that song.
@PeakApex literally same
@@PeakApexsame
This is exactly what is happening with book publishing as well. I have friends who are trad published who have been told they need to build a strong booktok presence. The companies are saving money by putting the artists marketing directly on the artist.
Oh hell no
Honestly, most companies from the art business are getting ridiculous about their requirements to work with you. What good is it to sign a contract with a label, a publisher or whatever, when they want you to do 90% of their job beforehand?
I see a lot of shorts saying stuff like, “the first line of this book is…” or “trying to get you to read books with r one line”
Like, maybe try to get me to read with an actual summary of what it’s about
I want to mention the factor of series authors, like janet evonovitch ? Sp? With her char. Steph. Plum /swf, unemployed, takes on a bail bondsmans ( a relative, her uncle ) challenge & tada a whole new investigative murder / romance/ funny chick etc. genre is born that could be filled out by a program as long as a car gets totaled & the almost sex or unspecified or non detailed sex action is included & the pet or random animal sequence, somebody needs rescuing , or she does, incurring a debt for a later book to be based on etc. with only a few paragraphs added so they can honestly say ' no the book was not written by a bot ' ! It's so bad it's hard to tell if you've read it before or not! Sue Grafton ( rip ) was never like that! Tyvm! Books should be inspired by actual thought, not prelaid triggers unless the plot lines for future books are outlined & timelined prior to the triggers entry point. For the most part. It is cool when brief moments in books go to spinoffs etc.
@@eileenscatthat's why self publishing with a freelanced editor is so popular nowadays. Write a book and hire someone to edit and make a cover for like $100, publish it to your booktok fans, rake in lots of cash with 70% royalties
It’s not just in pop music. I play in a country band for a living. We have a new single coming out this summer, and the label put trap drums over this acoustic country song ‘so it’s more danceable on tiktok.’ That’s the entire metric of what gets released now, and it’s a shame.
so like, trap snares on a country tune? XDDDDDDDDDDDD
i'm imagining "Maty Noyes - New Friends". in any case i'm definitely interested.
Oh please don't let them ruin your music by over producing it 😭😭
It would be one thing if the BAND, you know the people doing the actual labor, decided to make your country song more danceable. But to have your label chasing a fad that's going to end at some point is insulting. Art is truly rapidly dying and we have finance and tech bros to thank for it.
Oooh I'll stream it if u let me know ur band and the name (I'll either presave or put it in my calendar)
@@transsexual_computer_faery nothing wrong with trap drums mixing with country tunes, it’s just the reasoning and him not having his creative freedom
to me, doja cat is the embodiment of a career made by tiktok. her label only took notice to her talent after “moo” went viral. almost every song from her most recent album had a section go viral on tiktok and i dont think it’s necessary intentional (there’s just something abt the way she writes her songs that tiktok just LOVES) but it certainly has amplified her career in an insane way. it’s really interesting to see her as a case study for the newest wave of musicians who are well known for their online personas as well as their art
Yes! Doja cat, and in my opinion, Ashnikko were the first/biggest artists to blow up on tik tok
Same with pinkpantheress in a way
Ohh like ppcocaine or pinkii?
I don't think you can attribute her success on tik tok, her songs were huge hits on the radio too like old mainstream artists. She did good on tik tok like anyone else did too. I've never been on tik tok and never heard moo
@@Anna13Tonks moo on the radio?? 😭😭 moo was def uplifted by social media, i’ve never downloaded tiktok but i heard it a million times on other platforms. afterwards her songs were def on the radio a Lot, like “kiss me more” & “say so”
Watching things like this as an almost 30-year-old who refuses to join TikTok makes me feel like an old man standing outside my farmhouse watching the world change around me in ways I can't fully comprehend
EDIT: This is not meant to be a "Change and technology are bad and I'm better than kids these days" type statement. I try to balance my online and offline time for the sake of my mental health, and TikTok seems like it would absolutely wreck that balance for me. Godspeed to everyone who is on it and helps keep people like me from falling completely out of touch
eh 🤷♂.. I'm just leaning into it lol
edit: not tik tok, being out of touch, I mean.
same, but instead in my mid-20s. Wild that we both feel that way
same but I'm a still young teenager. my friends think I'm crazy
same, but I haven't even turned 10 yet and I feel the same. my babysitter always says i'm stupid for this
19 and feel pretty much the exact same way
What I can’t believe is how Bo Burnham predicted this years ago in his Zac Stone show.
Underrated comment
Bo Burnham is my favourite singer. Don't ask
Dk what show that is but that is the exact name of a pupil in my class ong
@@ThatGirlWhoDraws1one of my favs lol
I think you can see this trend mirrored in the “ringtone pop/hip hop” trend of the 2000’s. Think 50 cents Candy Shop, artists would create beats and melodies that were easily replicable to be used as ringtones which was HUGELY profitable back then.
Ooohhh! Good connection, I didn’t even think about that until you mentioned it. Same levels of market-driven gimmicky-ness.
But the difference is that you mostly could listen to the whole song without getting ear cancer and cringing hard
i definitely lived through this and i forgot all about it. you're so right.
@@ludifoe5039 I'm sorry, are you saying the trend that put Laffy Taffy into the world is not cringy? "They call me jolly rancher 'cause I stay so hard" is not gimmicky enough?
@@lucayaki „mostly“
I recently quit the app and one of the things I hated about it is when they speed up the songs. I remember hearing the sped up version of Sweater Weather and when I listened to it at normal speed, it was actually much better. You can’t savor the feeling that the music gives you when you listen to it if it’s going faster than summer break
I hate those sped up songs, my sister is the typical TikTok mid teens type of TikTok user and there are so many sped up songs blasting from her speakers…
@@seesikopter lol I feel sorry for you. I’d perish if I had to listen to another one of those sped up songs
Yeah idk why ppl like them
seriously i dont understand it. could it be again with the whole shortened attention span thing??
its just nightcore again.
Meghan Trainor's new song "Mother" is one of the most egregious cases of TikTok Pandering I've seen-
Megan Trainor’s music has kind of always been like that.
I mean, she's always been pandering to somebody; her biggest success was pandering to the fats.
First thing that popped on my head. That marketing is toxic.
that song actually makes me want to remove my brain with a vacuum
She did Mr. Sandman dirty
The screaming over tiktok songs effectively avoids copyright and speaks my intrusive thoughts into the world whenever these mega popular tik tok songs play
Meghan Trainor did this and I could tell even before the trend started. It's so obvious what some artists are trying to do.
AND I MADE YOU LOOK
fr that shit haunts me and i'm not even on tiktok
She's doing it again
And the fact that it works kills me.
Unfortunately all her songs were made for tiktok even before tiktok existed, so props to her I guess, get that bag and whatnot
But I'm gonna be checking tiktok with no sound until the new song passes
I can see why so many people consider her an industry plant for that exact reason.
I'm convinced Meghan Trainor was created in a test tube in some record label laboratory. I don't know why a record label has a laboratory, but apparently they do! She's just always seemed like such a corporate plant. Or maybe she's a robot? Idk but something weird is goin on I tell ya what
i really thought that song was a pop cover of a rap song when i first heard it.
I don't use tiktok (deleted it last year) but it's so obvious when a mainstream artist writes a lyric in hopes that it'll become a tiktok trend. I liked anti-hero but when I heard the "it's me, hi" lyric I immediately thought "oh the tiktok girlies will love this one", and then I saw that TS herself was doing paid ads in my shorts feed trying to promote it as a trend. I cringed so hard, like it would totally have happened naturally but it's clear that everything in marketing is about tiktok now (which makes sense since that's where the biggest section of Internet users is, but I find it really irritating lol)
I thought the exact same thing! Interestingly, in a review of her new album, a critic said "there are no radio hits in here, and that makes it not a great album." But like, there's not supposed to be **radio** hits on the album, because this generation doesn't really listen to the radio. There are, however, meant to be several TikTok hits on the album, and for people who use TikTok, it's pretty clear which ones those are. On one hand I feel like that shows an understanding of who the audience is and where they get their music, but it's also a fundamental *misunderstanding* of how the audience interacts with music. If it's a song that works for a trend, the people will make it happen eventually (albeit maybe not at a time that's convenient for awards season). But if the people are told "go do our marketing for us and make this a trend!" it's going to feel cringe, inauthentic, and out of touch. And when lyrics are written with the underlying vibe of "you're gonna make this a trend, right? C'mon, you know you wanna" it cheapens the songs themselves, because it feels like they're marketing gimmicks rather than actual art.
Love TS, but definitely wish she had let the trends happen organically rather than manufacturing them!!
TS gets a pass for this on account of that song being absolutely gut wrenching. It just works
But i really don't think that taylor would do it for tiktok though , like if she wanted to she would have never created folklore or evermore
@@byyrd806 ... tiktok definitely existed when folklore and evermore were created in 2020. they were just simply not pop albums, not meant to have chart-toppers
Me too! Deleting TikTok was the best decision I ever made lmao
Another problem with TikTok and music is how a lot of users don't actually listen to the songs they're using. It can be funny sometimes though. For example, Parents by Yungblood got really popular amongst intolerant people for the line "I was born in a messed up century", but if you listen to the FULL song, its actually talking about how bad it is that people are intolerant and insensitive. Its interesting, but not as funny when you actually realize people can completely change the intentions of a song by omitting lyrics or not listening to the full song.
Yes! One example of this that’s infuriating was when “All You Wanna Do” from Six the Musical had a trend in which people compared their exes to their current partner. The song is about Katherine Howard, a young woman who was sexually abused as a child, and was taken advantage of as her family’s political pawn, being married off to Henry the Eight.
That song literally being about him killing his homophobic dad is the funniest part lmao
I love seeing young teenagers lip syncing to ICP songs having no clue what they mean and just liking the “hardcore”sound lmfao
and how the next line is literally about his favorite DRUG!!! AN ADDICTIVE DRUGGG!!!! AMPHETAMINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"a synthetic, addictive, mood-altering drug, used illegally as a stimulant and legally as a prescription drug to treat children with ADD and adults with narcolepsy."
@@supotter377
i know exactly two icp songs one is about necrophilia and the other i don’t know the meaning of but it’s called my axe so i have a pretty good guess
how do you fuck that up
Seriously its like everything is becoming like fast fashion today. Fashion, books, furniture, social media now even music
That TikTok from Halsey where she's talking about her label refusing to let her release her own song is so depressing. Why does her label think she needs to specifically market it through TikTok virality??? She's HALSEY. People will listen to the song, let her do what she wants
EDIT: Just so you guys know, whether or not you like her music doesn't change that she's popular, nor the points I'm trying to make. I have barely listened to her music myself, but I'm still able to acknowledge the fact that she's popular, and that her music will do well regardless of it's TikTok-ness or my personal opinions (or yours!). The fact remains that labels stopping artists from releasing their own works over something like that is dumb.
This is the mindblowing thing about the music industry. We all assume that once you get to a certain point you get to call the shots. But then you realize most huge artists start their own label as soon as they can and I wonder if there might be a connection here.
I forgot about so many of these classics TikTok songs
Fr. I will LISTEN to ANYTHING they put out. I've even listened to him & I and I don't really like it, just because Halsey's in it
Ah yes. "I don't like this artist's work. I hope they die."
@@Frutebrute69 Umm, do you mean pass as in not be as popular, or are you actually wishing death on this person??
The single worst part about Tiktokification is not the music itself (although there's definitely some stinkers), it's how it seems to have affected song length. ≤2.5Mins is a radio edit, not your full song. There's so many songs out there I really enjoy but then they're over just as I'm getting into it.
For me it's not song length it's just that gimmick-ification of song writing.
Me almost exclusively listening to music under 2m since I was a kid:
Most songs over 3 minutes either have too many ideas or is the same idea repeated
@@mookai9813 wow what a horrible take
eh song length isn't an indicator for quality. the reason why pop songs used to be 3-4mins in the first place is because of the 45rpm vinyl record, that's just the amount of time that fits on a record like that. that's how the single was born. there is nothing inherently better about a 3.5min pop song than a 2.5min pop song, they're just different
As someone who loves pop punk, the recent "revival" we're seeing is depressing. Part of what made the first wave of pop punk so unique was that every band had a unique sound and style, whether in the instrumentals, their vocalists' voices, their lyrics, etc. Right now, every male pop punk singer sounds like MGK, every female singer sounds like Olivia Rodrigo, and both are writing those "pseudo-clever" lyrics that really aren't that deep.
honestly the problem with the "pop punk revival" is that so much of it... just isn't pop punk or doesn't feel like it. nothing wrong with that kind of music (mostly) but it's being treated as revolutionary when it's not
can you give me some songs you like? pop punk sounds interesting and since your saying that the new songs sound all the same i dont really try spotify playlists lol
@@Candle_Lights06 i've really enjoyed willow's albulm Coping Mechanisms. it's got the pop punk style and lyrics with substance imo
@@Candle_Lights06 Early Blink 182, Bad Religion, Millencolin, Cauterizeare basically my go to pop punk bands but there are others that are good as well
The entire emo revival is a bit superficial and frustrating. The culture is so controlled by TikTok and nostalgia, suddenly we've got the Emo's not Dead cruise, furnace fest, when we were young, and now MCR is back, MGK gets way too much attention, Fall out Boy is through with their decade long pop-band break I guess (idk their single was more like their old stuff). Definitely feels like these mega punk bands will be doing a super bowl show in the near future if the fad isn't already dead again by then.
Every punk and emo band to exist is finding it is profitable enough to do a reunion or get back together, which is partly exciting and good for them for sure. But the entire scene is something entirely different from what it used to be. It used to be unique, pretty counter culture, these artists made music because of how they felt or how it made them feel. Now it feels like it's all in our faces because it's profitable and popular.
Or maybe I'm just old now and this is exactly the sort of things my parents said about the rock music I grew up with.
i've also noticed this weird dumbing-down of the language used in these viral songs. like instead of actually describing the artist's experience with, say, depression, the lyrics will literally just be something like "i'm always sad and i cry a lot, oh i feel so bad" and it all comes across as really.. juvenile? like it was written for a children's show. and in many cases it also comes across as disingenuous, like the artist doesn't actually know what the experience they are talking about is like but are still trying to capitalize on it.
Exactly!!
What kills me is the app that sucks people in and wastes hours of their time is literally called tiktok, like “tiktok your life is passing by”
you're right and its ironic. the name probably was referring to the fact that the videos end after a very short time frame, but the reality is that you just feel like " 'what's another minute' *scroll* " till you've watched close to a hundred of them.
r/im14andthisisdeep moment
@@aleonimation This isn’t reddit
If peoples lives were enjoyable to begin with, they would actively choose to do things other than scrolling tiktok for hours. It is because each generations lives are getting worse on average (after the silent generation, largely).
@@rdizzy1 how is this generation worse than the others? maybe its because we are exposed to more global news and events, but bad things have always happened. The internet is an addicting whirlpool, and it also sucks the joy out of people. How are people's lives not enjoyable in this generation?
I heard that the live action remake of Disney's Hercules is going to be based on TikTok music, and needless to say, I am scared.
Im concerned about more movies ending up like that in in the future
no fucking way this is real... please tell me you're joking
you're lying, right?
Wha-where did you hear this?
what a terrible pitch for a movie
Hey Gabi Balls, I think it's also worth Pointing out that music is not only getting shorter and being structured without a bridge, but music is also going back to how it was structured and timed almost 100 years ago. When jazz and country western music was popular in America the length had to be short and the structure almost never had a bridge. This was essential if you wanted your song to hit the radio and trend. Lil Nas X was actually aware of this when he wrote "Old Town Road". His song was structured just like an old western tune. Because of this and because of the popularity of the song, people are actually and inadvertently started using techniques in music we haven't seen used in the mainstream in years.
P.S. Love the shirt!
Really interesting addition! Thank you!
GABI BALLS 😂😂
hey Gabi Balls
Sorry. Gabi BALLS? 🤣
This is why we stan the queen of bridges Taylor swift
Edit: might have comprehended the comment wrong
I can 100% agree to everything said. Speaking, second handedly from experience, my boyfriend has been writing music for like 6 years now, and not a single one of his songs have popped off the way me and all his family and friends believe they should. It’s pretty tiring already trying to make the songs 100% by himself, occasionally having help from his other musically inclined friends(and I love seeing them collaborate!) but he always is exhausted trying to post his music onto any platform he can, and he’s tried Tik tok. He tried the gimmicky posts, and got no where(though now he hates that he did that lol) and even just tried being genuine and posting asking people to check him out and playing bits of his favorite songs he’s written. He’s still writing music, but man, he deserves so many more people to hear his writing. He’s such a genuine writer, and writes with so much emotion and thought behind each song, even to go to write stories for his upcoming albums. We’re going to try some new ways of reaching new people, like just posting the art. Because his music is art to be art. And all he wants is people to hear his stuff, and I want people to hear his stuff. His art is pure emotion and love put into it.
(If anyone wants to hear him, we’d love to have you, CZcams and Spotify all under Bunbine❤️💜)
Im listening to his songs rn!! I loved dissociate and raining petals, those got deep in me!!
Purple poltergeist is an absolute masterpiece!!! He deserves so much more attention omg
holy crap, i wasnt expecting them to be this good omg 😭
he's pretty good
I'm checking him out right now!! I haven't listened to too many of his songs yet, but from what I heard his music is really good!!! He deserves to have his music heard, I'm wishing him luck with his musical journey🫶
I miss bridges so much.. I NEED songs to have a story that I can shape a mental OC around lmao, I’m still holding onto my 4-5 minute songs. 💕
i noticed this when listening to the radio these last few years 💔
Taylor Swift is still rocking the bridges, thank god.
I Don't Know How But They Found Me is my favorite band for my lil evil ocs
Allie X is my favorite for developing backstory, I'm not well versed enough in music to understand why shes just so good for it. MARINA is also good but more like big story developments.
absolutely agree. Especially when they, instead, repeat the chorus 2/3 times at the end. That can be fine if you mix up the choruses a little and make them different from each other - but in so many newer songs its just the same chorus. Over and over again.
OMG I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME
As a long time Kpop stan, it's sad to see labels being pressured to produce tiktok/viral-friendly music in these past 2-3 years like it's so cringe and a lot of groups lost their styles because of this pressure :////
yes also choreography specially made to be a tik tok challenge, Sunmi(solosit)said it herself that when she released heartburn the choreo was simple because her agency said so.
And it makes me so heartbroken because you clearly see that many of these artists really want to put out cool music but their agency blocks them.
Fortunately there are still a few groups, even popular ones(for example ateez)that don't conform their songs or choreo for the sake of tik tok :)
I agree with this so much
And now everyone has started doing those challenges that it's starting to get boring at this point, I am happy they are interacting but it's just way too much at this point. Also the lyrics are all so repetitive
@@abh1kxa that reminds me of cupid (its a good song but now it makes me cringe bc of everyone doing the challenge)
even as a newer kpop stan (i got into it at the beginning of the year so its been over six months but still compared to other fans thats very new lol) i recognized this pretty quickly and it makes me sad tbh. wish companies would just let their groups make music that they enjoy and think is good, not worrying about whether it’ll “go viral on tiktok” or something like that. sadly it isnt any of the actual groups’ decisions, they just listen to what their label tells them to do (which makes sense ofc). im happy that most of the groups i like havent done this tho, like another reply mentioned a good example would be ateez :)
As an independent musician, I hate that the only way I can promote my work is by reducing it to short form content. When I make a song 2-3 minutes long, I actually want people to hear the whole thing, not just 15s. The ability to self-produce, promote, and distribute all from a bedroom/through a phone has made music WAY more accessible which is great! But it sucks that pandering to social media is now just as important as the quality of a song if you want it to get heard.
@thenocturnalsmetalbandbased, I'm gonna write an hour long symphony
Well it's great but it floods the market. Usually when markets get flooded the quality stuff doesn't rise to the top. The music industry sucks but at least at one time the set a quality threshold. Now nobody cares, if it makes money it's good, it's sad tbh.
couldn't have said it any better. i don't want to be one of those tiktok one hit wonders with cheesy lyrics because they only put thought into one line
As an independent artist, I hear you! It’s so tough to make things and realize people will only listen to 15s of it and form an opinion on that now.
Sent some music to a friend and they only listened to the chorus and nothing else
Most of the metal songs i listen too are like 5-8 mins lmao
"Writing for the algorithm" is such a dystopian line
Meh. Not much different than writing for the labels. Been a thing since the 60s. Real music will always exist. It might not be as popular, but as long as people aren't robots, real music will exist
I would literally die to hear a new song that sounds like a 2010s pop song again. Lady gaga, katey perry, flo rida, pit bull, kesha, p!nk, jason derulo, ellie goulding, rihanna, kelly clarkson made so many good hits and i want them back
Look up Rina Sawayama. She's got you covered.
@@dsnodgrass4843so true. i love rina 💕💕💕
listen to raye’s new album. she’s a great example of tiktok actually making talented ppl famous.
kesha still makes music!! her past 2 albums have been amazing, def different from her older stuff but still amazing :D
I had a bias against them when I was younger and wouldn't listen to them- I still don't listen to pop that much, but if I could hear them on the radio again instead of the BS on there right now, I would cry.
i miss bridges!! as a songwriter, writing bridges is so fun and i miss when they were more integral to music. i think songs are becoming shorter in general, largely because of tiktok. there’s nothing wrong with short songs or songs without bridges but often hit songs barely pass the 2 minute mark nowadays. that’s fine for some songs but a lot of “tiktok songs” end up feeling unfinished.
songs traditionally were under three minutes (this stopped being the standard in the seventies) but they at least had meaningful lyrics, now a lot of those short songs are just a weird chorus and a bunch of random sentences 😂
the bridges are 90% of the time my favorite part of the song (prob from taylor swifts) which is why i no longer listen to "pop" music anymore
@@shuasn same i love a good bridge
Taylor is keeping bridges alive, thank her for that
I'm SO glad you showed the clip of Halsey being mad about her label wanting her to make tiktoks for So Good!!! I know a lot of people didn't believe her about it at the time, but even after the song came out and she was touring she would talk about it before she played it at shows and you could definitely tell she was still kinda mad about the whole thing. it's sad to me that established and successful artists like her are seemingly being made to try to manufacture a viral moment when they really don't need to
i can imagine its a slap in the face too, like i cant imagine it feels good being forced to stoop to such a low that u DONT agree with.
Okay so this makes me sad, but now 2 months later she's left her label and is working on H5! I hope she finds a better label and/or starts her own
here's the thing. labels are company's. they work for money. they want success. their job is to keep up with what's relevant and promote as well as possible. i understand that there's a side to it that forces artists into a box. but it still benefits them in many ways. like im sure halsey complaining ON TIKTOK helped in pushing her song. because even that was still her marketing herself to others.
and the irony is that her complaining about her label WAS her viral moment. you just cant escape these things as an artist
I don’t get why well known, all ready established artists have to promote their songs on tiktok.
Fun fact: "Old Town Road" did NOT start on tiktok but on yt Lil Nas X was just messing around on yt and it ended up blowing up and then Billy Ray heard it and asked to do a deal with him.
I have been desapointed so many times because I hear a song in tiktok, I love it, and when I look for the full version of it I discover there is nothing more, just the corus over and over again and random lines in between.
Like cupid and death bed
I was so excited to listen to The End by lil uzi ft babymetal but it’s literally just the same 2 lines repeated
@@Peppermint_Oofdeath bed by powfu?
@Peppermint_Oof cupid isnt tho, cupid is a whole different problem since everyone hates the genre it is yk
Spell better
As a musician, I think the removal of bridges is actually a bad thing. The bridge is very important for building tension and building up to the ending. It's where the most emotion is. Without it, the song feels bland.
at least Taylor Swift still has bridges in her songs
Everything is autotuned to death too. Nothing has any soul any more.
It also breaks up the song structure a little so it won't get too repetitive or boring
I happened to hear the song that’s like “Victoria’s Secret lied to me” on the radio whilst in an Uber back in November and was genuinely shocked at how gimmicky it felt. My friends proceeded to inform me this song had been popular for months (it was the first time I was hearing it), I had to sit back and try to verbalize what I disliked so much about it. You saying the gimmick thing gives a name to it, but it really is just the tip of the iceberg. Similar to the “I hate Disney” one, the deeper you go into the verses the more perplexed you are and it does follow that format of repeating the chorus an almost ridiculous amount bc there’s so little else to the song. I don’t want to just blindly dunk on stuff, but it all feels very corporate
The sentiments, I 100% agree with. The first few listens it made me feel heard and validated, but after that I saw how embarrassingly simple and shallow the songs were, even when discussing a deeper topic.
I had the same experience listening to the “Cinderella is a CEO”. The artist removed what made the characters the characters-removed Tianas passion for cooking and made her a biomed student. It cheapens everything.
The sentiment I understand, but the execution was gimmicky, like it was being sold to me
The funny thing is, the Victoria's Secret song is an example for me of a TikTok song that feels like it came from a place of genuine passion on the part of the artist, since in the lyrics she talks about her previous struggles with body image and eating disorders. It's definitely gimmicky but at least it felt earnest in that gimmick, like it was intended to say something rather than just be repeated for the sake of it
@@elianaslivia4405yeah when I heard that song I was kind of annoyed about that part too.
It felt like it was written in collaboration with Victoria Secret, and the ad deal much immediately after release really threw me off it.
I miss bridges and i also miss when songs were generally 4-6 minutes long. Now a lot if music hits 2-3 minutes. I hope we can have a resurgence of the longer music with bridges and guitar/bass solos
i think this is why Marina stands out to me... like she writes good soul-filled music. Ancient Dreams goes from talking about women's rights to self-acceptance and sass to saying goodbye to yourself as you grow and change to how sometimes you can be a happy loner to driving around in a pink convertible while the world is on fire and we're just desperately trying to ignore it. and the songs of hers that did go viral while yeah having that moment they're all much deeper. despite most of em being from her first two albums.
and she loves a good bridge lol.
Teen Idle is amazing.
@@Funeral_Mannequin all of Electra Heart is amazing honestly. One of the albums with 0 skips for sure
Marina >>>>>
Love her!!!
@@SolaceWhore considering i was talking about Marina i was referring to her 4 albums which I've heard all of. I usually skip a few songs in the first half of love+fear and a few songs from fruit.
But really even if i had only heard one album and i didn't skip any tracks from it it would be one of the albums with 0 skips regardless of how many albums exist. It's you who can't conceptualize that someone may like something and the fact music taste is subjective. From how you talk I'd assume you're an ild fart who's wife is cheating on him with a hunk she works with but you secretly like it cause you deep down know you don't deserve her.
i love that you covered the good & bad of "tiktokification" instead of just spiraling into a cynical pov! very well written
I completely love the way Gabi prevents copyright by screaming
Between that, and blurring her feet for the 0.5 seconds they’re on camera, Gabi confirms that she knows how to internet.
One of my favorite songs, Mind Over Matter by Young the Giant, which came out in 2014 recently came onto my fyp, and it was the bridge which is absolutely beautiful. And the song has such a beautiful message that lots of people interoperate in different ways. My heart flutters a little bit whenever I see someone use this song on a video.
I love Young The Giant! Mind Over Matter is one of my favorites by them too. If you like that one, and haven't heard it already, I reccommend Art Exhibit. Beautiful song!
gonna check out that song rn, thanks for the recommendation
They don't write songs for radio, they write them for tik tok dances and edits... and I think that says a lot.
yeah, it says that (for some demographics) tiktok is more popular than the radio.
Which is fine as long it isn’t supposed to be serious or end up on the radio.
Radio is dead 😭
Remember when MTV first came out and everyone was all "aw man, now ugly people can't make music and be successful" and now it's "aw man, now only the most artificially enhanced, meme driven, lucky individuals who make their song pander to an audience with no attention span or cultural staying power"
wait I just realized that MTV and other channels were the only way to see videoclips to songs wtf. in my head MTV was always an addition for if you wanted to see artists perform live or as background music but when a new song released that was actually the only way to see the videoclip?! I feel very gen z
@@zahra9890VH1 was my go to. There was much more variety on the VH1 channels
But music videos are fun and not all singers are goodlooking. They're still out there despite not being britney spears-level hot
@@aeoligarlic4024 you take a deep long look at Mungo Jerry and you tell me honestly that music isn't about video appearance these days
@@chiefmonrovia6691 I mean Ed Sheeran looks like a potato and his songs are played constantly in every retail store in the US.
Kind of perfect that this video came out right after Meghan Trainor posted a video showing off a song that's very obviously the most made-specifically-for-tiktok song in human history
What song was it
@@madiii3279 it was that “mother” song
@@punkrckr6889 ohhh thanks
I hate that song with all my being and IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO THAT ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR TO GOD
even made you look was so gimmicky
She is so spot on with this whole video. I'm in instrumental music , where you would expect this to happen less often , but even here you hear traditionally classical musicians trying to simplify each song , so to be easily digestible by the algorithm.
I always remember that one story about "Hotel California" where some music producer told the Eagles nobody would ever listen to a 6 minute pop song. But they loved their creation and released it in its entirety
me and my dad love the eagles. to the producers, we really dont care 👌🏼
For anyone looking to distance themselves from this trend, I would highly recommend finding any artist/artists that you have a casual interest in and listening to an album all the way through, in order. What you will begin to find is 1) the "viral hits" and singles are almost never the best songs and 2) you'll get suggestions to be able to build a repertoire of artists that genuinely is unique to you.
I know this may seem like basic advice, but a lot of folks may not have thought to do something like this.
Agreed! I highly recommend listening to Poor Mans Poison's other songs besides 'Hell's Comin' with Me'. 'Feed the Machine', and 'Give and Take' are both really good.
This is fantastic advice, I love listening to an album all the way through when I have the time
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
@@salt2209 Something tells me you love Carpenter Brut. Just a hunch
@@jesssinclair3366 I LOVE CARPENTER BRUT
My 13 year old sister loves those gimmicky songs, which is another fascinating layer to look through this. They’re marketing towards kids/young teenagers bc if they’re successful, they could potentially create a fan base that will last for years. Idk there’s just something kind of yucky about it. Especially when you’ve got lyrics like “twinkle twinkle little bitch”. But at the same time, I would have ate up those “twisted nursery rhymes” when I was that age too (and I did. The Barney song anyone??)
I used to love Melanie Martinez's music when I was 13 because of those twists so I definitely see your point
I hate you, you hate me, let's go out and kill Barney!
With a baseball bat and a 4x4,
NO MORE PURPLE DINOSAUR!
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
(also i think theres more, but i cant remember)
Yeah, it kind of reminds me of the bob the builder song everyone used to sing at age 7
Bob the builder can he fix it? Bob the builder NO HE CAN'T!
@@kawaiiwolf4724 now that you mentioned Bob the Builder, I thought of that lyric from Build a bitch 'Bob the Builder broke my heart, told me I need fixing. Said that I'm just knots and bolts, lot of parts were missing'
i hate u u hate me lets team up and kill barney
with a one shot two shot three shot four
no more purple dinosaur
OR
i hate u u hate me lets team up and kill barney
with a great big gun and you shoot him in the head
purple dino is now dead
This is a way better take than just the "music is getting worse because something something attention spans something something video games." This makes so much more sense, so thanks for putting it out here.
Video game music is probably the only thing fighting against it.
Video game music are always bangers tho, underrale sea of thieves dmc Sonic etc will never not slap
@@e_knees8816 Nah, this shit is pretty much exclusively a problem in pop and pop-adjacent genre
@@RecliningWhale I have no clue what I meant by that. I’ve been sick and delirious.
One thing I also dislike due to the TikTokification of music is the fact how people nowadays tend to sing like. Everything has to be cute, mumbled and edgy. I have difficulties knowing which artist is which because they all sound the same to me, mainly because of two things, the modern production and the singing style promoted by TikTok. I mean, the girl from the PS5 song is the best example. It just sounds so typical for the current era and I really really hate it. It destroys everything. My bf is a vocal coach and he was talking to his collegues the other day. They all were so frustrated because their students are literally learning wrong techniques because they wanna sound like TikTok singers, resulting in an unnatural and HARMFUL way to sing, which is incredibly hard to get rid of again. There is so much singing potential locked behind this current sound ideal, which is just frustrating. 90% of the songs would sound so much better to me, if people would sing PROPERLY.
YES!!!
As a second-language English speaker I hate hearing those mumbled things, I literally don't know what they're saying and everything feels the same. They're all just clones of each other, mumbling stuff about depression and breakup and whatever...
I listen to metal so, naturally, there isn't stuff like this in my favs, but I just can't understand how someone could like a song that sounds like the singer has their jaw tendons a bit too short :/
That shirt is money. A completely fire look overall.
This made me giggle lmao
Stilwheytin Formor
@@whatifschrodingersboxwasacofin Gg
@@whatifschrodingersboxwasacofin the way i clicked “translate to english” 💀
Anything TikTok touches it destroys tbh
It depends it really helps when ur bored, but mostly agree
its better than shorts tho
Bro honestly it sure seems like it. Idk why i am in this video because thanfully ive never downloaded
Just like Carl Denham.
:( rip big guy.
so basically TikTok is Killer Queen
Artists who write songs for themselves rather than virality are also gaining stable fanbases, compared to artists who get famous quick on tiktok and then fail to reach that level of success once more - quality will always be a leading factor in who chooses to listen to what.
I think popularity of music has less to do with quality and is more random and based in fashion.
Agreed. The artists that actually deserve recognition for their creativity and good lyrics are still the ones dominating the industry and consistently staying at the top, like Billie Eilish. So, technically, it's not such a huge problem.
12:08 you hit the nail on the head here. I've not come across a lot of "Tiktok" music thanks to my autism and my taste being specifically niche, but a lot of popular music I hear these days sounds like "commercial music". As in not music that is commercial, but music meant for commercials. They sound like bad ad jingles meant to be forgotten as soon as the ad is taken off the air.
It's not really commercial music 😒
I'm not talking the video
@@assassin8636 I don't know, I can barely differentiate between popular songs these days and a hip new product's ad jingle, which were anyway meant to be 15 second music snippets with a hook or two and maybe a sound byte.
@@assassin8636it is literally commercial music with a "people can relate to this" gotcha moment. the music you hear lately is just about shitty exes, it's as repetitive as youtube ads and comments like yours.
Me and my sister were in the car once and we heard what we thought was a new, catchy song come on the radio, and we were so excited to hear something new that might not be completely awful.
It was a Febreeze ad.
I haven't used TikTok since 2019. Stay strong, my boys, girls and non-binary people. I live under a giant rock.
Im gen Z and i haven’t had tiktok since it was musically, I get it. ✊🏻
i envy you
don't worry, I don't even have a tiktok account 😂
gen z here again. Cant be bothered to download tik tok after i watched some guy overdose on camera (likely not lethal but it still made my stomach turn) and i deleted it. i think it was back in 2020 and esp after i turned it off i realized i’d just been sitting there for 4 hours like a zombie, staring at my phone and it only felt like half an hour. It hurts me seeing my sister zone out while we’re watching a movie bc her attention span went to shit. Also i havent yet finished the video so idk if she mentioned this but have yall noticed songs used to be like just over 3 mins in the 2000s, then the 2010s extended to closer to 4 mins and now most released these days suddenly reduced to under 3? My only suspicion is tik tok just bc how it favours this short form content.
I never downloaded I and never plan to
Something I've noticed is that the emotions have been dumbed down too.
I feel like a lot of music is not embracing negative emotions like sadness or grief. We're always forced to listen to upbeat, catchy or surface level music.
I can't find any new music to listen to when I'm down or need a good reflection session. You have a few gems here and there but even then they are so repetitive to flow well in to TikTok.
idk just listen to Radiohead
thats why u gotta listen to some metal, brother
You should listen to Lana del rey
@@thevishyfishy I do love metal/rock. I love system of a down
Pink Floyd is definitely my “Sad/Grief” go-to group.
I've have been saying that bridges were truly the best parts of songs and its one of the reasons I really like kpop because they're gonna give you a bridge and it's gonna hit just about every time
same
I didn't know what a bridge was before this video and I have to agree with this (70% of the time)
Edit: tho bridges are pretty important for making the final chorus feel special
alt rock and kpop really do be slaying those bridges
the reason why cry for me by twice is on repeat in my brain bc that bridge is amazing
Came down here to say basically this. A strong bridge just hits so good and can really make a song emotionally.
I've really liked how AJR hanfpdles their tiktok. The song feels well written and normal, and then they make fun tiktoks about the creation process and using snippets. They seem to enjoy it, so it isn't hurting anyone.
music means so much to me. the fact it’s becoming a giant factory is so upsetting to me. the joy of listening to music is hearing people’s personal stories and experiences, along with beats that perfectly fit the mood. hearing these generic ass trap drums over “oooo i miss my boyfriend oooo” makes me so mad. WHY DO YOU MISS HIM? WHY DOES IT HURT? HOW DID IT HAPPEN? if you actually care about your music, make it something that’s part of you. not ever song needs to be danceable, not every song needs to be about love, hell, not every song needs to be famous. all that matters is that you put your absolute best effort into very song. it doesn’t sell, but it’s more real than these manufactured singers.
This!
Already see someone coming in with a "don't care" reply to this.
The last 3 sentences you said are exactly why I love NF. Apart from the insanely layered instrumentals by Tommee Profitt, the music is about him and his growth, it's his escape from his own past which in return means he puts so much emotion into the delivery on each and every one of his tracks.
yeah screw this world gimme some classical
That's why I started listening to classical music in 2021 as all of the most popular songs became about a relationship between a girl and a guy, like I don't WANT to know what happenned between you and your partner I just like the chord progression and the melody is nice, classical music does not have any lyrics (except operas) hence it makes me feel raw emotion when I listen to it. It makes me create a story around the melody and I think that is much more moving. Anyway I'm glad I did move away because pop music has become even more repetitive nowadays.
there’s a time and place for everything. not every song needs to be a diary
I would call myself a musician and i just get kinda sad from looking at how much artists in general have to "fake" themselves for their art.
And doing something cringy that gets you attention IS objectively better than getting none but its still kinda sad idk
i mean i have to fake a personality just to hold down a "normal" job so there's that
Nothing new tbh. Gimmick bands and trend hunting have been existing forever in the music industry. The predatory lable agent who tells you to change everything about you is a cliche for a reason.
c hm
yea agreed im trying to put on local shows and find other artists in my area that don't want to dance like a monkey for the algorithm lol
@@transsexual_computer_faery wdym?
one thing that kills me is seeing an "indie" artist promote their stuff, talking about how they've been making music forever and really want to make it in the industry, then you look into them and they're signed by UMG lmao
you can be registered with UMG, Sony etc without being signed to a label or having any funding behind you! I’m registered with Sony and have a publishing license with them but I don’t receive any other help from Sony or any money so independent artists being registered with Ascap, UMG etc doesn’t mean they aren’t independent or fighting to make a living from music
@@dreamsi oh interesting! thanks for bringin this up
check out beabadoobee! she’s signed to an independent London label called dirty hit :)
oh the infamous industry plant
The girl is signed by the 1975 indipendente artist my ass
This is why I'm stuck in rewatching AMVS from 2014🤷🏻♀️
I think a good is example of "gimmicky" writing without feeling dumbed down is the "Crybaby" and "K-12" albums of Melanie Martinez. One part of this is just that her songs are about more serious things, but it's also that she uses extended metaphors. When she compares her body to cake, she doesn't just do it for a line and then move on. The whole song is her describing how someone used her body for quick calories and then left. She has a reason she picked this particular comparison for a reason, abd lets it guide her songwriting process from there.
(I'm a writer; it's my job to over-analyze ❤)
I really wanted mad at disney to keep going as it explored the experiences of a girl becoming a woman and realizing the more complicated realities of a relationship, and feeling lied to by childhood fantasies. That’s an amazing concept that is just so heavily wasted here.
@@joshraid1550 exactly!!!
theres a difference between album concepts and gimmicks and i wish more people would do concept albums theyre so good please tell me a story or follow a theme
I've noticed her songs, as a fan who appreciates their deeper meaning, get popular on tiktok
Agreed
Tiktok actually has way more problems than producing cringe songs, most viral trends are problematic, overall it just gives me such a bad experience scrolling through it
They also cover up genocides in China! I've seen TikToks mentioning the Uyghur genocide in China get censored by ByteDance themselves, and TikToks BY UYGHUR PEOPLE THEMSELVES where they're crying and only 5 emojis are on the screen. You know what those are? Emojis to represent concentration camps, family members being taken away, and even deaths. Those emojis are to avoid censors or responses by the government. I'm a musician, and I refuse to ever touch that app. (Granted Instagram and Facebook/Meta have also abetted genocides in other parts of the world too)
like being a spyware and a pedo haven
Don't feel about from tiktok but because of it, music industry is now in the mess place. It feels like it was totally ruin.
@@popcelebritiyoh boy
OH BOY
buddy you don’t know how bad the music industry is right now
Streaming fucked it six ways from Sunday, but pays artists nothing.
@@ringsystemmusic that can be totally fucked up
I'm not really a tiktok user so I haven't seen this change as much in music, but I recall seeing the exact same complaints from writers about publishers forcing them to market their own books via tiktok, to write for virality, etc. There's been a definite shift in how I see books getting marketed towards what works on tiktok, and even that one writer who got her book published because her tiktok about it blew up (it was in the exact same vein of "what if there was a [book/song] about: ..." which I find funny). Sad to see how much artists/art is influenced by trends or what sells, but when you're making your money off your art I can see why you'd have to
oh god those tiktoks too, where theyre like "OKAY STORY TIME:" and just start telling a simplified version of their book but dont reveal it till the end and then link their book.
Marketing books via tropes instead of plot like it's fucking fanfic drives me up the wall.
(And I say this as someone who writes and reads and loves fanfic.)
I remember the spotification made songs starting with the chorus common and watching the tiktokification taking away my bridges AND making verses and pre chorus so so SO short hurts my soul. deeply.
I miss the days of instrumental hooks being the way a song would start. Basically all of the classic MJ and Stevie Wonder songs started out this way (as did most songs for about 50+ years across all mainstream genres). The MJ/Quincy Jones method of every layer and moment being a hook made the songs much more cohesive and impactful than a lot of this Tik Tok music (which often only has time for one 15sec hook per song). The whole song suffers for the sake of a single hook.
That sounds super intriguing! Do you have an example song I can listen to to see the concept of an instrumental hook in action?
@@chloeme3589 If a hook is a musical idea that is used to catch the attention of the listener then in context of pop an instrumental hook would be any musical idea that isn't meant to just be supplementary but is itself supposed to be catchy. Now this can be a riff (a constantly repeated musical phrase) or it could even be just how recognisable the sound of something normally mundane is.
A perfect example of this, in my opinion, is Billy Jean. That drum intro is so iconic but it's just a simple backbeat. It's the attack and the overall mix of the drums that makes it immediately ear catching. Then that bass line riff comes in (that has become so many bassists first bass line because of how effortlessly cool it sounds), then the synths come in but they're not just playing chords they're playing another concrete musical idea that you can sing. Throughout the song it is just moment after moment of singable lines that can get stuck in your head (just from the instrumental). Another perfect example is Superstition (the instantly recognisable drums, the clav intro, the bass line, the horn line in the second half of the verse, even the chord progression of the chorus is so unique that it becomes a sound that is returned to during the fade out).
The point is really building a song from singable ideas instead of just laying down a beat and instrumental as a bed to sing on top of. The reason MJ could do this is because he literally sang all of his musical ideas onto tape and it was the job of Quincy Jones and his musicians to take those ideas and give them the extra arrangement sauce they needed. Really a good rule of thumb is anything that is easily singable can be incredibly catchy if implemented in the song well.
@@jeremylatta9038 I deeply appreciate you describing this in such good words and details. I'll listen to the songs but your description was already eye-opening. As a musician this opens so many doors, it's like a missing puzzle piece. I come up with random melodies and will record those upon happening but usually only translate those into my vocals. I really admire your musical attentiveness. All that's good to you! May the universe or whatever you believe in bless you. This is great.
@@chloeme3589 You're welcome! Finding inspiration by studying the greats is always a beautiful thing. In fact that's how the greats became great. Art is heritage for us all!
@@chloeme3589 If you ever listened to rock music before for example, that's literally just a riff (usually a repeated guitar phrase before the verse starts). Most rock songs have a riff / instrumental beginning. Sometimes it's a guitar, sometimes drums or bass. In the case of Michael Jackson and other artists sometimes it starts with a synth line. It depends, but it's present in so many forms of music, it's actually a bit surprising you never paid attention to that.
"Tiktokified"/sped up songs just remind me of "Nightcore" songs I used to listen to when I was like ten
Right? I was so surprised when I saw that sped up remixes are trending, it's basically nightcore without the anime aesthetic and pitched up voices.
That's why I love small artists. The people just sitting infront of a camera and singing their song, playing guitar, making you feel something. They feel real. You can tell they're doing it because they love it, and they think other people might like it too.
i love listening to small artists, which is why i'm starting to use soundcloud a bit more rather than spotify, it's so much easier to branch out on soundcloud
me too!!
but the smaller artists are doing this too, it’s actually easier for them to market this way
I’m so glad someone is finally talking about it. Especially as someone who studied music and music theory for a long time, the entire structure of a song has changed. Every song is the length of what used to be an interlude, it’s very interesting to watch music change before my eyes.
Everything that I learned while growing up in music school has changed.
i was driving the other day and i had the alternative rock station on. i deadass almost drove off the road because AS IT WAS BY HARRY STYLES came on. can someone please tell me why harry styles is on the ALTERNATIVE ROCK station 😭😭
TikTok has watered down genre labels to the point that anything that isn’t 100% pure pop is suddenly alt rock. It’s disgusting and insulting. I cannot stand this cheapening of genre labels!
WELCOME TO 102.3 FM WHERE WE PLAY ROCK, ROCK, AND NOTHING BUT ROCK! THIS AIN'T YOUR GRANNY'S STATION!
*Imagine Dragons - Radioactive starts playing*
WHAT THE HELL WHAT IS HE DOINNGGGG THERE?!!! NOOOOO
same energy as the "gen z revolution" playlist which had you need to calm down by TAYLOR SWIFT as its first song 😭
The whole 'one line'/'hook line' thing has been a huge part of kpop, also known as a killing part. I've been noticing some of these 'trends' existed in kpop for a long time before, stuff like trend dances (started with chok chok dance iirc). Same with the changes of structure, starting with a chorus (nct have been doing this a lot). I wonder if the western industry has noticed what makes kpop songs popular and taken from it. And it works because a lot of kpop fans are on TikTok as well I think
edit: typo correction - was supposed to type 'nct' but autocorrect changed it to 'not'.
Yea, but I think kpop songs also have undergone a shift from more complex structure to a more simple structure built around one idea or concept.
But I also noticed k-pop dances becoming more like TikTok dances. Happened to ITZY with sneakers, Aespa with girls, Nayeon with the pop dance 😭 like what are we doing 🙁 I loved watching itzy and aespas complex choreographies but it’s just been so stale and plain. Like they barely move their legs!
Yes! I have followed kpop for almost a decade now, it has always been a thing. From "Sorry Sorry" from Super Junior and"Fantastic Baby" from Big Bang, to Cheer Up, Signal and TT from Twice. And honestly I like it better when they do it, because most of the times there's a whole concept behind the album, and it isn't solely made to hit on tiktok.
@@wheatbread1606 I miss the G-friend dances ;-;
Those were my thoughts exactly when watching the video!! Also I feel like a lot of kpop songs nowadays tend to have extremely catchy one-liners that trend very well. Like a lot of Stray Kids songs are a good example of that
I've also noticed how this has completely globalized music even more. The way western artists are collabing with artists from all over the world so easily now. It's also making songs from other countries go viral in a way that hadn't happened before and I think that's a great tiktokification of music!
Like what artists? Do you just mean kpop?
@@ictogon I’ve seen one example where this creator would spin a wheel with a whole bunch of different countries on it, and then would research some “up and coming” music artists from that place and make a song with them. At the end of the series they all collaborated on one big song. So they had people from several continents all working together, and imo that is pretty cool
I think it also americanizes some songs. It happened a lot before, but I notice a ton of newer songs that use references or words that are very american.
On the other hand there are also some hits in other languages or from international that show a whole genre to people who didnt know of it before, which is really cool.
@@wowanothercookie I feel like America is such a big internet/entertainment media giant that some Americanization is inevitable
@@claracclenky @Clara C Clenky For sure, and it has also happened historically for example with hollywood making american films popular internationally. I do feel like pop culture references and these song gimmicks are pushing that even more. They are meant to be appealing to as many people as possible but still use an american point of view as default.
Thanks for mentioning the fact that songs were getting shorter before even the internet. The radio and sometimes an early record player were often the only sources of electronic entertainment a family had. You were meant to sit and experience the music in full and nothing else. Like politely listening to a talented orchestra. That was music.
Now it's nearly unheard of for us to listen to music without also doing something else.
whats worse is when songs from small artists randomly blow up on tiktok but thats the only song theyve ever made that blows up, as the tiktok users never actuallly check out other songs
Yungatita is the most painful example of this, with 7 Weeks and 3 Days (easily one of her WORSE songs) having tens of millions of listens on Spotify while the rest is 10k listens below
Happen way too much
its the world we live in now@@Hahshdhbcbcyoutube
oh my god.. Orange Sector with farben. I've loved OS to death for ages, and i have never felt such a range of emotions watching it get popualr on tiktok.
Initial joy, at watching their monthly listeners go up, and audio uses skyrocket
Confusion, on how the song quickly got attatched to a specific character
8 seconds of the song are now used exclusively for thirst trap edits of that one character, and their other titles are gaining no popularity.
The song stops being assosiated with the artist entirely- The song grows so disconnected from the artist, that it becomes it's own entity.
The band's initial growth slows down dramatically, but the tiktok reach only expands.
idk it was kind of crazy
Blow my brains out is such a good song but they (Tikkle me) need more appreciation
I was just talking about this the other day with someone, we could name several new songs that follow this. The main one that we thought of was Anti Hero by Taylor Swift. Now I love Taylor, but the line “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me” was 100% written for tik tok. Hopefully in the future, the more main stream songs won’t be as gimmicky
but then again can you blame her? that’s like prime marketing right there
@@kphoria1009 i'll blame her ! she's literally taylor swift, she is incredibly less desperate for streams than some unknown indie artist desperate to make it in the music scene. sooo yeah, it is super fucking noticeable when someone as established as her does it because there’s literally no excuse to dumb down her songs. it's embarrassing !
Okay, but isn’t the song even more popular now because of tiktok? We can’t blame her, she just wants the best for her music and get it out there, of course this is benefiting her and not hurting anyone. We should just support her that she’s doing good on one of her songs!
@@bagleboy7985 that doesn't mean she can't want more. Promoting songs on TikTok is good marketing, whether we want to admit it or not.
She’s a smart woman anyways.
I think it also limits artists to narrow topics and styles - it's gotta feel fun, danceable, catchy, and often simplistic/memorable lyrics. Less variety of mood, lyrical content, and style, when everything is geared toward being a dance or trend or challenges. And as a musician who is down with dark, slow, moody tunes, it's hard to navigate this landscape or even get noticed unless you sell your creative soul to these algorithms. 😿
there are a lot of songs that go viral that have slow moments though. it’s about that one part of the song that is memorable
@@kphoria1009 sure but most trendy song (parts) do feature more simple lyrics or have something with impact like a drop. Slower songs might even get sped up, so I can see why this artist feels their music falls outside of that
I feel Joji has had success making some slower, more emotional moments in songs go viral
I quit TikTok back in August of 2022, though for reasons besides this. Gotta be honest, I love it. I feel happier now, I’m less depressed, less paranoid and hopeless; I’m not trying to achieve success that I had somehow grasped before; my attention span has been trying to recover; and so much more. It’s so nice to be off that hellsite once and for all.
I've never used TikTok, but you can see this effect everywhere. I feel like a boomer for saying it at the ripe old age of 22, but people just don't have patience anymore.
There's the obvious stuff of retention span, but streaming services giving us access to thousands of different shows and movies; having 1-day delivery times as the expected norm; and take-away food an app away, have just made us more lazy. You don't sit down at a PC to go onto a forum or whatever - you just open an app on your phone. Even the news is more and more desperate for the next scoop to then get clicks, even if it's just complete fiction. Which is forcing politics to become equally rushed, vile, and just apathy-inducing (just look at the UK at the moment, Jesus...). The near-constant accessibility of the internet through smartphones is ruining us. The iPhone doomed us. Hear ye, hear ye: the end is nigh.
Okay, time to watch more CZcams when I should be sleeping. Great video, Gabi.
This is just how pop music works, pop literally stands for popular. Pop is and always has been centered around trendy culture because that is what it is by definition. No shit the trendiest app is going to produce its own brand of gimmicky pop music. This isn't a brand new phenomenon
@@themothman3726
Wow, pop is an abbreviation for the word popular? Shocking.
You've neglected that I didn't make the video, and that I was talk about society as a whole - not music. I didn't even mention pop music. So, thanks for a reply that's irrelevant to my comment, I guess.
you make a great point here. love this analysis 👏 we are becoming more lazy and consuming more like the big companies want. it's all about money and less about quality/artistry
Yep, I'm 23, and it feels so weird to be talking like a boomer, but I do honestly find it unsettling how it feels like in the last few years stuff like TikTok and Uber Eats and all these instant gratification services went from a handy or fun distraction to omnipresent and dominating everything, all the time.
yep. I saw this comment section on instagram talking about how msot people can't eat a meal without watching tv or scrolling their phones, and it was so surreal because the VERY few people who were like "when I eat i focus on my food and nothing else" were the ones who were treated like THEY were weird and abnormal??? like it really concerned me
AH, this makes me feel so old. Growing up, I remember it becoming more and more the case that the focus of pop music was on the single and not the whole album. And now we're at a point where the focus ain't even on the whole song anymore.
i'm gonna be the person that complains about the kpop side of this too
something i LOVE about kpop is the teasers. teasers are SO fun, before an album drops, to get to hear just a tiny little bit of a song- sometimes it's just the instrumental, sometimes it's a few adlibs, sometimes the teasers sound nothing like the songs that come out and i love it. i love the mystery and the way the album drop gets so hyped up.
but because of tiktok, it's so rare to get teasers like this anymore. it's takes so much fun out of a group's comeback for me, the fact that there's a dance challenge with the chorus already circling tiktok before the song even gets released. i HATE that i end up basing whether or not i think a song is even good, before the actual whole album drops or the song even comes out. it takes me forever to want to listen to a full title track or an album because i have this gut feeling, from the random snippets of the song that got popular on tiktok before the song even came out, that the song is going to be terrible.
i want that fun feeling back, clicking on a comeback's music video the second it drops and not having barely an inkling of an idea of what it'll sound like. there's like this magical mystery feeling. can we petition to stop promoting kpop songs like this it really stinks
FRRR
Same with pre-releases. There's just so many pre-releases before the whole album that I just loose hype for the actual album.
I cackled at the “oooo-aa-aa-aa-aa” at the beginning
I have literally been saying this for YEARS. As a classically trained vocalist and a songwriter I noticed it with a few songs where I was like "Oh this could be a very good song, I can't wait for it to come out." and it just becomes that ONE PART. W.I.T.C.H. is a good example of this because it's such a good song concept but it literally is just the TIKTOK that she recorded. It's so sad this is what music has become. I want 3 minute + songs. not these songs that last 1.5 minutes and have no sustenance.
There is a lot of pushback to this type of music, so it’ll lose popularity. Ultimately people will only listen to stuff they like. And lots of people don’t like this type of music and marketing
Twinkle little b reminds me of the regional variants we all sang about killing Barney to the tune of "on top of spaghetti" in elementary
i saw a short the other day saying,“i wrote this song about a guy who hurt my best friend and played it for her”. it was sooooo cheesy and cliche and all the comments were like “here for it! this is amazinggg”.
Was his name Trent Toney
dont be shy drop the link im curious
Okay but was it catchy?
thank you for making a video on this!!! i've been thinking about this for a while and decided to write my final paper on this cultural phenomenon, and i am using this video as a source. i love your channel/work, you really put thought behind what you're talking about and i appreciate it :)
When a music blows up on tiktok it automatically became so disposable. You can hear the song the day it was released, loved it, relate so much to the lyrics, create an emotional bond with it, but if the song becomes a trend on tiktok people will see you listening to it and be like: "so you like tiktok music, huh?" Tiktok literally ruins so many good songs bcu'z many people nowadays don't even listen to the music they are dancing to while making those stupid challenges, they don't even care if the music is good or not since they're only doing it cuz' it's popular. One of my biggest and stupidest fears now is that my favorites songs become a trend on Tiktok, cuz' i know it will lose all the meanig of it and will be automatically labeled as "Tiktok music".
Genuinely, this is also one of my biggest fears. Having songs or media I seriously enjoy getting so popular it’s “cringey” and “overplayed” is irrationally terrifying and reasonably frustrating. I’m all for people enjoying the things I like, but only when they care for it as a song and not a fleeting trend
Same thing for books for me, like every time I see a book I genuinely love end up on the “booktok” table at Barnes and noble I get filled with rage that one of my favorites is going to be cheapened and recycled endlessly until the original is meaningless
My new fear is that some song of a underrated artist that i like became viral and then when the artist do a concert the concert's tickets sell out quickly because people who only are going to the concert for a popular song instead of people who have been fans for years
why do you care what others think? if you like a song, listen to it. It doesn't matter if its popular or not. It doesn't matter if others think you just like "tiktok music".
(*cough*) bloody mary (*cough*)
the same thing can be said for writing, people focusing on snappy dialogues and tropes rather than a good plot and character arcs
Absolutely. The lack of editing, review and proofreading is so irritating now
"A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music uses to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, I could make those people dance and they'd be happy for a while."
That's what resonated in my mind, clear as a bell, when you talked about there being so few verses in a song these days. American Pie didn't get popular until the 70s, because it was too long to fit on a standard 3-4 minute record for radio, which is why most songs are 3-4 minutes long. But I am saddened at the thought of no one making music like that anymore.
"But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside, the day... the music... died."
I love that song so much, it tells a story but the chorus is also catchy and I think that's what I like about it. The verses change in tone each time and the chorus is also different at the beginning, in the middle and the end. Really great song!
i love this song so much, it’s so good AHH
I’m so glad that this is being talked about. Music back in like 2005 and even a few years after that time was really good, but now it feels so unfinished and kind of dry, like the lyrics aren’t hitting like they used to. It just feels like I’m either listening to the same type of song with the same message over and over again by a variety of other artists (sort of recycling a concept but trying to interpret it as their own thing/experience as well?), or its a song that is sampling off of another song but it just doesn’t sound right yk? (Recycling another person’s beat/chorus line into their own music) there are good sample-used songs, example like Tom’s Diner and Centuries share the same sample, both are awesome songs in their own right, and use the sample perfectly imo because they don’t use that one line in the chorus as a crutch, the rest of the song is actually good, it has a story as I like to think of it and good to play just for the vibe. Anyways, music be lackin, but there are some good songs I listened to that were from TikTok and released on Spotify recently, so they aren’t all bad.