12.16.2020

TikTok Treats: Key Insights from the 2020 U.S. Music Report

TikTok Reflects on the Songs, Trends, and Artists That Defined the Year in Music On The Platform

The News:

TikTok was one of music’s defining commercial and culture-shaping forces in 2020, propelling hits up the charts and introducing music fans to their favorite artists. Today, TikTok released its first-ever U.S. music report, taking stock of the songs, trends, and artists that made an impact on the platform and the music world at large. The report offers an array of numbers that measure the sheer size of music consumption on the platform, highlights big hits and emerging artists, and provides more information about the taste profile of users on the platform. Below, check out some key insights that can be gleaned from the U.S. music report:

• The TikTok community’s music obsession produces some staggering numbers: TikTok has 100 million users in the U.S., many of whom use the platform as their go-to source for music discovery. The community’s massive size allows music to reach milestones that other platforms can’t match: over 176 songs reached one billion views on TikTok in 2020 alone (YouTube generated just one).
• TikTok made a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100: TikTok emphasizes active creation, rather than passive consumption, fostering a listener-song relationship that helps hits gain success off platform as well. Nearly 90 songs that trended on TikTok reached the Billboard Hot 100, and 15 trending songs reached number one on a Billboard chart.
• Hip-Hop dominated TikTok in 2020: According to the music report, hip-hop inspired more than four times as many TikTok video creations as the next-most popular genre (pop music). Hip-hop’s overwhelming popularity on the platform is notable in many of the report’s other categories as well: 9 of the 10 fastest songs to 1 billion views were hip-hop, and rappers comprised 7 out of the 10 most-viewed artists by catalog.
• Artists With One Hit Song On TikTok Are More Likely To Score a Second Hit: The top ten artists by catalog on the platform, as measured by total video views on their songs, each had multiple trending songs on the platform. Some artists, including Pop Smoke (4 trending hits) and Doja Cat, seemed to score a trending hit with every release.
• Emerging artists scored some of TikTok’s fastest-rising hits: Though TikTok’s list of fastest songs to 1 billion views includes anticipated releases by superstars like Drake and Billie Eilish, the list also includes songs by regional heroes like Detroit’s Sada Baby (“Whole Lotta Choppas”) and Houston’s BeatKing (“Thick”) along with brand new artists like Popp Hunna and WhoHeem.
• Artists emerged by being active users on the platform: TikTok dedicates the largest section of its music report to emerging artists that used the platform to jumpstart their careers. The artists come from different geographical regions and make music of different genres, but something they all have in common was their ability to actively use TikTok to promote their songs and engage with their fans. Acts like Avenue Beat and Tai Verdes scored viral hits by interacting with TikTok users, creating a personal connection that engenders a familiar relationship between artist and fan. As a result, fans feel personal investment in the success of the artist, and can proudly claim to have played a small role in their rises.
• Catalog songs are nearly as likely to go viral as new hits:  TikTok’s revitalization of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was a major music story in 2020, as user @420doggface208 propelled the former #1 hit back onto the Billboard Hot 100 after a 43-year absence. “Dreams” was not alone–The Ying Yang Twins “Say I Yi Yi” (2002) and The Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is The Love?” (2003) ranked among TikTok’s songs that reached 1 billion video views the fastest.
• ’00s nostalgia is alive and well on TikTok: Songs like La Roux’s “Bulletproof,” Nelly Furtado & Timbaland’s “Promiscuous,” Ne-Yo’s “Because Of You,” and Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” were among the app’s biggest revitalized hits of 2020.

As the spaces where people normally enjoy music were impacted by the pandemic, TikTok helped fill the need for communal musical experience in 2020. The industry hopefully will return to a degree of normalcy in 2021, but TikTok will continue to shape tastes, start trends, and create universes of content around hit songs, new and old. One thing is clear: if you want to know what is pushing music forward, keep scrolling down your “For You” page.

Read TikTok’s full 2020 U.S. music report at the newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/year-on-tiktok-music-2020

Check out The Year On TikTok: Top 100 at TikTok’s newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/the-year-on-tiktok-top-100

The Background:

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.

TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

For more info, please contact:
Michelle McDevitt, Andrea Higgins, Erin Ryan, Audible Treats
Leah Linder, TikTok

Links:

TikTok’s Newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us

Check out previous editions of TikTok Treats, a weekly newsletter about the most interesting music happenings on TikTok:

How TikTok’s Top 10 Songs of 2020 Impacted the Industry
Run-DMC, MGMT, and More Noteworthy TikTok Stories
Billie Eilish and Queen Join the Party, New Viral Hits Take Flight, and More From the World of TikTok
Ariana Grande, Rick Astley and More TikTok Stories
Elton John, Tim Burton, Liam Payne and More Add Some Pumpkin Spice to the Week in TikTok
John Lennon, Oasis, George Michael, and More Score Trending Hits on TikTok
Stevie Nicks, Jason Derulo, and More Highlight a Big TikTok Week
Now Here You Go Again, You Say You Want Your TikToks
Pop Smoke, 24kGoldn, Flo Milli, and Others Have Scored Multiple TikTok Hits
TikTok Salutes Its #FamiliaLatina: Music Stories from Latinx Heritage Month
Big Sean, Charlie Puth, Classical Harp, and More From TikTok
David Guetta, Sada Baby, and Rick James Are Having a Moment on TikTok
BTS Hits #1, Kendrick Plants Money Trees, and More From TikTok
Dua Lipa Levitates, J. Cole Soundtracks Glow-Ups and More TikTok Stories
TikTok: The “WAP” Dance Challenge, Folklore, La Roux, and More Provide Joy and Catharsis
Charlie Puth, Pop Smoke, and More Trending TikTok Stories
Artists Unite to Say #SaveTikTok
How TikTok Users Use the App to Boost Their Musical Careers
TikTok Doesn’t Just Mint New Hits…It Revives Old Ones
These International TikTok Artists and Hits Eliminate Language Barriers
Who’s Hot on TikTok? Jason DeRulo, Rod Wave, and More
TikTok Success = Chart Success and the Hot 100 Proves It
TikTok Users and Artists Celebrate #MyPride Through Music
TikTok Promotes a Vibrant Artistic Community with #BlackMusicMonth