How TikTok took over the music industry
The viral video app now decides who’ll get their 15 seconds of fame
- Words by: Harry Shukman
The viral video app now decides who’ll get their 15 seconds of fame
The viral video app now decides who’ll get their 15 seconds of fame
Imagine, before the internet, the incredible palaver it must have been for record labels to get an album to number one. Picture yourself as a 1970s music industry executive, sitting in a smoky office with no computer, just a Rolodex and dyspepsia, planning how to turn your musicians into rock gods. To promote their new record, you’ve got to pay for adverts in newspapers, on the radio, on the sides of buses and on motorway billboards. You’ve got to lay on lavish press junkets and fly out reporters first class to stay in five star hotels, mini bar included, to meet your band. And then you have to beg your stars not to gobble too many pills before their interviews and be drawn, like victims of KGB brainwashing, into conversations about the latest skeleton stuffed into their closet. Not only does this cost immense amounts of money and hair follicles — but afterwards, you can’t guarantee that customers will actually want to buy your record.
Imagine, before the internet, the incredible palaver it must have been for record labels to get an album to number one. Picture yourself as a 1970s music industry executive, sitting in a smoky office with no computer, just a Rolodex and dyspepsia, planning how to turn your musicians into rock gods. To promote their new record, you’ve got to pay for adverts in newspapers, on the radio, on the sides of buses and on motorway billboards. You’ve got to lay on lavish press junkets and fly out reporters first class to stay in five star hotels, mini bar included, to meet your band. And then you have to beg your stars not to gobble too many pills before their interviews and be drawn, like victims of KGB brainwashing, into conversations about the latest skeleton stuffed into their closet. Not only does this cost immense amounts of money and hair follicles — but afterwards, you can’t guarantee that customers will actually want to buy your record.
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Discover the perks of being a member
| Clubhouse Membership | |
|---|---|
| Two Magazines per yearDelivered to your door | |
| Full Access to Paywall contentAccess to all member-only online features | |
| Membership Cardto redeem all the perks. | |
| Members Invites to Exclusive Eventsto private Clubhouse events | |
| Weekly newsletter Straight to your inbox | |
1 year £39.99 Equivalent to £3.33/month |
