It's hard to overstate how just important Spotify has become in making or breaking songs. A tune's placement on the streaming service-especially early on-will largely determine its success in all other areas, from uploads to radio play to concert ticket sales.
But with 42,000 songs released on Spotify every day, and with so much hustle behind them, how can an artist get their tune to float into the rarefied heights of Spotify's Viral 50 lists, especially without major-label money boosting its rise?
Maybe, as Justin Sheriff B.M. '16 says, by forgetting about Spotify and heading first to TikTok, a social media platform that hosts super-short video clips.
Sheriff, the head engineer at Cybersound Recording Studio in Boston, saw one of the artists he works with, Stellar, do this with the song Ashes, which Sheriff recorded, mixed, and mastered.
There is nothing like TikTok right now, Sheriff says. It is wildfire...just the virality [with which something] can blow up. Instagram, Snapchat-all that is falling to the wayside now, comparatively to TikTok. Its ridiculous.
Stellar promoted Ashes on TikTok in limited campaigns by offering to pay people to use his song in their videos. The deal was that he'd pay people $10 if their video, with his song, got 100,000 views, $20 for 200,000, and so on up to $100 for videos viewed 1 million times. Stellar, whose real name is Sid Banerjee, says that, to his knowledge, such a promotion had never been offered on TikTok. But he, an experienced YouTuber and student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), said he basically saw the potential the algorithm had.
So he gets a few people with influence to start using the song, Sheriff says, adding that some videos just showed people pointing at the screen and saying, Hey, this person said they'd pay me to use the song, so Im testing it out.' Crazy stuff like that. And [Stellar] starts to pick up some steam...and then, literally all of a sudden, it just starts to take off.
It gained momentum quickly in May and June as other artists and influencers started noticing that many of the videos that used Ashes got a lot of views. This impression was helped by a post Banerjee made telling people exactly that: I made a video showing [two examples] where whenever they used my sound they got a lot of views and whenever they didnt, they didnt get views...and literally, everyone started using my sound the next day. More than 1.7 million videos have used the song.
Whats crazy about the TikTok thing is that it can be a gigantic mountain of a boulder, as opposed to like a tiny snowball, within just a blink of an eye, Sheriff says.
That snowball was then heading right toward Spotify's Viral 50 charts, as people who heard a clip of the song went to Spotify to listen to the full-length tune.
Listen to Ashes on YouTube:
Ashes first landed on the U.S. Viral 50 chart in late July at no. 8 and then on the Global Viral 50, hitting no. 3. It spent more than two months on both charts. From there, it started registering on Billboard charts. By November, it was in the top 20 on Billboard's Alternative Rock Sales chart.
To get this kind of buzz for a song, artists can spend thousands of dollars. Sheriff, who is a musician himself, put it this way, for perspective: Ive hired people to promote my Spotify song on certain playlists. For $400, you could maybe get a very typical service-15,000 to 20,000 streams. But after paying out everyone who featured his music in their TikTok video, Banerjee spent about $500 and got 10 million streams during the promotion. (Today, Ashes is at 42 million streams on Spotify.)
This fall, the major labels started taking notice, and in October Banerjee signed a deal with Arista Records. He says this is 100 percent the result of his TikTok campaign. The labels all started reaching out after my sound went viral, he says. He's taking a break from WPI and moving to Los Angeles to pursue his career.
Why TikTok? Though Banerjee saw outsized success on TikTok, in large part because he thought up a then-novel way to promote his song, standing out on the platform isn't easy. TikTok has a culture that savvy users are plugged into, and the videos that blow up tend to share some characteristics.
What Ive kind of noticed is...you sort of just need a little bit of your song to just be really catchy. Ashes' is a catchy, catchy tune; its something that you can listen to for a small bit and youre vibing to it, Sheriff says. It's also a song that lends itself to meme-making, another big trend on the site.
But isn't a catchy tune what's needed to make it on any platform? Maybe. But the barrier to entry can be higher in other arenas, Sheriff says. Take radio, for example. If you think about the days before TikTok, [your song] probably only got viral if you were lucky enough to be rotated on the radio stations. And thats so, so hard to do in itself. I mean, thats like shoot-the-moon for a lot of artists. Besides, most musicians who are getting radio rotation are the ones already on labels.
Also, many younger listeners don't tune in. TikTok is like the new radio for kids; they find it on there. They dont listen to the FM radio. They dont listen to Sirius XM, he says.
TikTok is like the new radio for kids.... They dont listen to the FM radio. They dont listen to Sirius XM.
-Justin Sheriff B.M. 16
Spotify is easier to get onto than radio, but promotion is a challenge. Sheriff says that an artist typically needs to harass a whole bunch of people and ask them to put your song on their playlist. And there's not much opportunity to add value to the offering. With TikTok, he says, you can be creative, you can be an artist, you can take songs and repurpose them in really unique ways.
As for Facebook and Instagr
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
Wooden Camera, a leading innovator in camera accessories, is proud to announce the launch of a new line of products for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. These ...
09/05/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions is expanding its popular Series 5000 platform with three new 12G-SDI cards. The new cards provide ...
09/05/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has completed a project to migrate ON TV, the major independent broadcaste...
09/05/2025
NUGEN Audio launches its new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck. A mono, stereo and multichannel dialog clarity meter, the software provides an objecti...
09/05/2025
Disguise the technology platform and solutions provider that powered MDL Beast Soundstorm 2024, Dubai Expo's Al Wasl Dome and visual displays at the Burj ...
09/05/2025
CVP has announced it will demonstrate its cutting-edge broadcast, live production and studio solutions at MPTS 2025. Taking place at Olympia London from 14th - ...
09/05/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, and White Peaks Solutions, the prominent e...
09/05/2025
SportsEngine Play, the first-of-its-kind streaming service for youth sports, has agreed to a multi-year extension with AI-automated sports content leader, Pixel...
09/05/2025
Friend MTS, a leading global provider of content protection services, today announced that TOD, the premier sports and entertainment OTT subscription service fo...
09/05/2025
ZEISS announces that it is in development on a new virtual lens technology that will allow visual effects and compositing artists to apply an authentic lens loo...
09/05/2025
At the 2025 Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), Cerberus Tech will showcase the latest major enhancement to its Livelink IP video delivery platform the...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
08/05/2025
Back to All News
Now in Production: Comedy Action Film Husbands in Action'...
It's hard to overstate how just important Spotify has become in making or breaking songs. A tune's placement on the streaming service-especially early on-will largely determine its success in all other areas, from uploads to radio play to concert ticket sales.
