What Has TikTok Done To The Music Industry? Charli XCX, FKA Twigs And Others Share How Many Times Their Labels Make Them Post

Notable pop musicians like Charli XCX, FKA Twigs and even Ed Sheeran have recently unveiled what their record labels want from them on TikTok — and that's to post as many times as possible in an attempt to go viral despite valid inspiration.

Yesterday, a tweet posted by Twitter user @alluregaga2 included multiple TikTok screenshots from female pop artists revealing that their individual record labels expect them to be posting multiple times a day. The self-aware nature of these TikToks' subject matter alluded to many on Twitter that these women are struggling to keep up with the consistency and creativity being demanded.

Undoubtedly, TikTok can make or break an artist's success as a form of viral marketing. Over the course of the platform's history, many artists have gotten their start on TikTok due to their songs being a part of a trend. For instance, the artist JELEEL! has grown a fanbase predominantly from his TikTok content where he only uses one song for most of his videos and started a trend with it of ripping his shirt that others replicated.

Other trends and memes on TikTok have made already established artists more money. A good example is the Mardi Gras Guy who danced to Kevin Gates' song "Thinking With My Dick." At the start of the year, Gates' most streamed song on Spotify was "2 Phones" but after the TikTok trend, "Thinking With My Dick" soared to the top. All the attention even prompted Gates to invite the suburban Dad on stage at a concert.

The screenshots shared in @alluregaga2's tweet are all real despite some of the original videos, like FKA Twigs', having since been deleted. News outlets like Yahoo! have reported on the pressure from record labels like Atlantic Records, but no statement has come from any labels in regard to it.

Additionally, @alluregaga2's tweet generated lots of discourse on the topic going into the days following. Many blamed the labels for being "lazy" in their promotional tactics. Some even stated that TikTok wasn't the factor hurting the music industry, but rather, the music industry was hurting TikTok, meaning that their growing lack of promotional creativity was showing in this growing trend of self-aware content from their artists.