It is somewhat bizarre how many of the songs these days do not even feel like a song anymore. You can scroll five minutes in TikTok and you will hear the same thing repeated. It is not an entire song but only 10-15 seconds clips. It is a catchy hook or a dramatic beat drop usually and the only part that goes online turns viral and the rest of the song is forgotten.
To start with, it appears that TikTok is benefitting music. Small artists can overnight blow up and get millions of streams, and this does not seem bad. However, the more you consider, the harder it is to remember that music is actually not being found, but it is being diminished. Songs are now created for Tik Tok rather than to be listened to.
You can observe it in the manner of structuring songs nowadays. It always includes that one viral moment normally during the initial few seconds. This is not a coincidence. The artists and producers are well aware of how the platform operates. The record labels have been pushing artists to make TikTok-friendly songs that have a higher chance of going viral as Rolling Stone has reported, and TikTok trends are now directly affecting chart placements as Billboard posted.
It is due to this that music is beginning to become more predictable rather than creative. It also alters the listening pattern of people. People listen to a song just to hear that one part they know and when it does not come fast they become bored. Music used to be either something to sit and listen to, something that progresses as time goes by or elaborates a story but currently it can be seen as fast material.
Worse still, the songs that were once short lived. A song could become viral during a week or two and then it vanishes entirely, and the next trend takes its place. It renders music something disposable instead of something meaningful like in the past.
Naturally, TikTok is not a completely bad thing. It provides smaller artists with an opportunity to get recognized which the industry did not always provide previously. There is a trade-off where algorithms have become an important part of deciding the type of music that gets produced. Hence, Tik Tok has been doing a terrific job of making songs popular, but on the other hand, it is modifying what music is and perhaps not in a positive manner.
References and Links
Rolling Stone – https://www.rollingstone.com
Billboard – https://www.billboard.com
Han Tianyong 
Yinan Zhou 
Xinyue HOU