Or Do You EP by NOUTXXHANG

Heartbreak never gets easier and betrayal always comes as a surprise. NOUTXXHANG conveys these emotions well via the two tracks in his Or Do You? EP. “One Time” produced by Jay2Loud has a beat that almost transports you to the bottom of a broken heart. The heavy effects on NOUTXXHANG’s voice strengthen that hopeless, sluggish feeling that the rapper may know too well. “Money Talks” produced by Ace Maceo, is an only slightly more uplifting song. The artist distances himself from any sort of self-pity and sets his eye on the future.

Click here to listen to Or Do You? on SoundCloud.

TikTok is Creating New Stars

TikTok is the next frontier in virtual music marketing. With over a billion users and its content consisting of less than a minute long videos, it’s the perfect platform to share your music or creativity in any form. The platform, built around lip-syncing to “sounds” hosted by the app, is used by mostly kids, teens, and young adults. Mending together these factors of having the attention of millions, being musically inclined, and falling amongst the key age range, and you could potentially have a million-dollar marketing team right in your pocket.

TikTok users have the option of using popular songs or any previously published “sounds” within the application’s catalog. This means, any starving artist can post a snippet of their song or video to TikTok and it’ll essentially be archived. “Sounds” on TikTok rise and fall in popularity, but when they’re at their peak, the view is great. Independent artists can pre-record a video of them listening to their song, jamming out or even as they’re creating it. The post itself may not get much attention, but now the “sound” is out there for anyone to stumble across and use.

TikTok has a few success stories already. Hip hop artist Ashnikko is one of the first and largest breakouts from TikTok. Her single Stupid, featuring Yung Baby Tate, found its way onto the social media site and quickly gained attention from teen girls, embracing the song’s message of womanly strength and straight-up not needing a man. Thousands of interpretations of the song’s leading line “stupid boy think that I need him” flooded the app’s “For You” our recommended page. This boost of support took the single to an entirely different level as the video was released on October 22nd and has gained over 11 million views in only a month.

She’s not the only underground artist to find an insane amount of unexpected support from TikTok. “Falling” an emotional, guitar filled track by upcoming artist Trevor Daniel was met its wave of popularity amongst the community. Songs that are somewhat relatable and capable of telling a story are what really stick to TikTok. Trevor’s transparency about heartbreak on “Falling”, a song that he released over a year ago, won him the hearts of millions of young fans dealing with similar issues. Thousands of TikToks use his song and the same line, “my last made me feel like I would never try again...”. If you’ve been on TikTok for even five minutes recently, you can finish the line. And it’s because of that, that underground artist Trevor Daniel has broken into the Hot 100.

If anything, TikTok is a place of opportunity and ever-changing trends. Creatives have the chance to present their art directly to the consumer. The short format of TikTok’s content can be daunting, but its brief video style is what gives each user the ability to be heard. If you’re a new or independent artist, this is certainly a platform that you should utilize. Growth is consistent, no matter how many followers you have, and whether you develop a fan base is all dependent on how much work you put in. If you’re willing to put in your all, or even figure out which of your works fits well into what TikTok is looking for, you can see unprecedented amounts of success and growth in no time.