The same has been true of TikTok, except that TikTok did specifically have music in mind early on when it acquired Musical.ly, another Chinese app that enabled users to create lip-sync videos. Otherwise, TikTok’s early disregard of music copyright issues helped it to build up a huge user base while it negotiated with record labels and music publishers.
Another sign of TikTok’s further autonomy is its ability to create its own music stars independently of the record label system. YouTube produced several breakout megastars, such as Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, PSY and Luis Fonsi. Yet most of these had backing from major labels or management in the first place; YouTube mainly helped them get exposure in markets beyond their native countries, including in the U.S.
In contrast, artists are doing more to create TikTok-friendly music content. The main impetus for this is TikTok’s emphasis on short clips, whereas YouTube allowed up to the length of most songs from its earliest days. Some artists post clips from their full-length songs on TikTok to promote them and steer fans to Spotify and other streaming services as well as to.
But above all, there’s mounting evidence that maintaining a constant presence on TikTok is becoming a necessity for artists who want to build their fan bases. This just hasn’t been as crucial on YouTube. And some artists resent having to feed that beast every day , so this trend will increase the proportion of social-media-savvy artists who hit the top of the charts—and increase the amount of nagging that labels and artist managers have to do to keep them there.