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If you've already added your music to TikTok,(e.g. via MusicHub - read more here), you're off to a great start. But don't sit back and wait for TikTok users to stumble upon your work. Take charge of your fate, and make your TikTok profile stand out. With TikTok's rapidly growing user base—currently over a billion users—this platform presents a golden opportunity for you to grow and showcase your music.
You might also be surprised to know that you can also monetise your presence on TikTok. For more information on how to earn money via TikTok, check out this article. But remember, aside from potential earnings, your primary goal should be to spread your music on TikTok and enhance your visibility. When TikTok users discover you, you should be taking the opportunity to encourage them to stream or download your music on various platforms and follow you there as well.
Polish your TikTok profile
A completed TikTok profile is the foundation for expanding your reach on the platform. Here's a step-by-step guide to ensure you’re on the right track:
Begin by setting up an account. Add all your information, a profile photo or video and links, paying close attention to three important things.
- Complete Your Profile: Fill in all the available fields with pertinent details.
- Communicate Your Artistic Identity: Make an impression by adding a catchy, appealing profile tagline that reflects who you are as an artist.
- Guide Users to Other Platforms: Drive TikTok users to your profiles and releases on streaming and download platforms. Using a smart link or a link-in-bio tool can be particularly effective here.
The first thing you need to do is to decide on a username. Ideally, this should be your artist name. But if that's taken, consider using underscores (_) or dots (.), or adding a descriptive term like "band", "official", "music", or "artist" (for example, cuteplay.band, cuteplay_official, cuteplay_music). Try to avoid using unrelated terms or generic names like "user123456789". The key is to make your profile name distinctive and easy to remember. You can also display your artist name under "Name" on your TikTok profile, which will show up when someone visits it.
In your profile, add a brief bio about yourself and your music. Even though you're limited to 80 characters, this space should highlight what makes you and your music unique. You might also include your genre or home city.
Give TikTok users a chance to know you even better adding links to other social platforms like Instagram, and to your profiles on streaming and download platforms. You should already have some content on these platforms that presents you and your music well. TikTok users can follow the links and engage with you and your content. Every additional social media presence offers new potential to reach a larger audience and generate interest in you and your music.
Lastly, make sure to include a "link in bio". Tools like Linkfire or Linktree can help you organise all your streaming and download platform links for easy access to TikTok users. By guiding TikTok users to platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, you not only boost your reach and revenue but also encourage them to learn more about you, ultimately nurturing loyal fans and followers.
Add your music to your own videos
It's advisable to make your own videos using your music and to employ popular hashtags that reflect both your musical style and lyrics, for instance.
When creating a video with your own music, always utilise the sound that MusicHub delivered to TikTok on your behalf. You can find instructions on how to do this in this article. Remember, TikTok videos provide just a brief musical moment rather than your full song. Be sure to present this moment in the most engaging way possible to your audience. When choosing your TikTok snippet, consider how best to highlight that particular segment of your music.
Don't simply wait for other users to use your music as sound in their videos. Of course, you might get discovered that way, but it's better to take control of your TikTok presence. It's best to create your own videos with your music and use popular hashtags that match with you, your music and your lyrics.
When creating a video with your own music, always make sure that you use the sound that was delivered to TikTok on your behalf via MusicHub. You can find out how to do this in this article. Also, keep in mind that TikTok videos are short and that they present a musical moment, not your whole song. Your goal when you are creating your TikTok snippet is to share that moment with your audience in the most captivating way possible.
Show yourself and your personality
You might be wondering what types of videos you should post on TikTok? The golden rule is to always show yourself in your own videos in an authentic, unique and approachable way - and always aim to entertain because that's precisely what TikTok users are looking for—authentic entertainment. For example, tell your story as a musician. How did you get into music? What has been special about your journey so far? What hurdles have you overcome? What tips do you have for other musicians?
Give an insight into yourself and your life as a musician. Show yourself, for example, how you produce, or perform, your music. Share how you started making music, who influenced you, where you come from and what you still want to achieve. Emphasise what makes you and your music unique by adding a personal touch to your videos. And don't only use your own music for your videos. You can also create videos with music from your musical idols and link to their TikTok profiles. This is another way to gain reach, with other artists and their fans discovering your music.
Even though you can now create videos on TikTok that are up to 10 minutes long, it's best to keep your videos short and to the point. Make sure to use visuals and text overlays to highlight your story and your music but, at the same time, don't try fit too much information into a single video. If you have a lot of interesting and entertaining things to say, record several videos so that your fans on TikTok can stay engaged with you for longer.
Keep an eye on other musicians on TikTok
Discover other artists on TikTok and follow them. If they follow you back, use your music or even tag you in their videos, this increase your reach. Be inspired by other musicians and watch their videos. How do they tell their story and how does the TikTok community interact with their videos?
Many artists also collaborate with other artists on TikTok. Actively look around to see if musicians you already know, or whose music fits with yours, are active on TikTok. You could create a joint video with them or use TikTok's duet or stitch features. With these features, you can interact with another video, recording a musical duet in which both videos are shown side by side, or creating a reaction video in which you show your admiration for the music of another artist. You can also link the other musician and create more engagement.
Post funny and emotional videos
While your main objective is to promote your music on TikTok, don't solely focus on music-centric videos. To entertain your target audience, you can also post funny or emotional videos that show more of your personality as an artist or even give you a glimpse into your private life. Videos that poke fun at yourself or your life as a musician may also be well received, as well as being relatable to other who are trying to build a career in a creative field.
Remember, you don't always have to take a serious approach in all your videos. TikTok is not a platform for perfection: casual, phone-shot videos are entirely acceptable as long as they connect with TikTok community. To keep your content engaging and entertaining, explore the variety of filters and effects available in the TikTok app which provides numerous options to effortlessly create compelling videos.
If you feel that the TikTok app alone is not enough for you to create your videos, look around for other video editing apps. CapCut, for example, is an app used by many TikTok creators. In all your videos, keep in mind that in order to keep increasing your audience you want to try entertain and inspire as many people as possible.
Know your audience
When you create a video, always think about how your audience might react to it or what you hope they will do. Who might like your videos? Will TikTok users sing along or dance to your music? Will they laugh? Will they get stuck on a line of text and use it in their videos? Can they identify with you and your music? In your creative process, think about what your audience might do with your video content and how they might react to it.
You might also have heard somewhere that TikTok is mainly used by very young people. While this was true for a while, but TikTok now appeals to all age groups. This gives you even more opportunities to reach a wider audience on TikTok. So think about who your specific target group is and what content will help you best reach and communicate with these people.
Be an active TikTok consumer yourself
When you open the TikTok app, the first thing you always see is the "For You" page. This section showcases videos that TikTok's sophisticated algorithm recommends for you based on your preferences. The more you use TikTok, the better the algorithm gets to know you. It analyses which videos you skip, which ones you watch a little longer and which ones you like, comment on and share.
When you watch other videos on TikTok, don't just focus on your own entertainment. Make an effort to analyse what you find entertaining and how you interact with different videos. If videos don't convince you, think about what would entertain you or what you would do better. Use these insights about your own reactions as a guide for your own ideas and videos. Also, look at the comments and likes of other users to learn valuable lessons from successful videos.
Use appropriate and popular hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to increase your visibility on TikTok. Do some research and look for hashtags in other videos that fit you, your music and your content. Using these hashtags in your videos could expand your reach. Pay particular attention to other musicians' videos and let yourself be inspired by how they use hashtags to increase their visibility on TikTok..
Keep an eye on challenges and trends
On TikTok's Discovery page, you can keep an eye out for the latest content, music or so-called challenges. Check there regularly for trends or challenges that might suit you, your music or your lyrics. If you find something suitable, try to create videos about it. There are also many dance and singing challenges on TikTok, which are initiated by users, but also by artists themselves for certain songs. Singing cover versions and singing duets are also popular. To make your videos and your profile more popular and reach more people on TikTok, you could take part in dance or singing challenges of other artists, cover their songs or post a duet with them. Of course, you can also start your own challenge if you think your music has dance or cover potential and could encourage TikTok users to dance and sing along.
We hope these tips have been helpful to you. As TikTok evolves quickly, we'll be updating this article regularly. Feel free to check back here from time to time for updates.
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