Some success stories of independent music artists breaking into the music industry are truly remarkable. The story of the band Beach Bunny is a prime example, and can be seen as an inspiration for every artist out there.
Let’s Rewind:
Trifilio states that being a part of a talented band has remarkably affected her songwriting skills, which is prevalent in her song "Prom Queen."
The meaning of the song was centered around the unreal expectations of beauty standards in modern day society.
The track's utterly raw and relatable lyrics made people, especially women, worldwide, resonate with her message.
The band released the song independently at the end of 2018, during which time Triffilio didn’t even know that the social media platform, TikTok existed.
TikTok's part
The song garnered the attention of TikTok influencers. Trifilio recalls a friend texting her saying that the song “Prom Queen” was all over the leading social media platform, TikTok, featuring in countless TikTok videos. In disbelief, she turned to Twitter to see the swarm of Tweets from her fans, confirming her new status as overnight sensation.
TikTok users seemingly resonated with the lyrics to the track “Prom Queen” and lip-synced to the song while using it to create their own videos on TikTok, promoting body-positivity.
The fact that the app relies on user-generated content means that whatever appeals to the user is what skyrockets in popularity on the platform. Thus, Beach Bunny's attractive lyrics and catchy melody that appealed to the overall user population, are what first introduced the band to the growing world of tiktok music promotion.
This really shows the true power TikTok has and what it can offer independent music artists. The need for complex marketing strategies and to sign a record deal are slowly fading away.
Where they are now
Thanks to the TikTok promotion, the band has officially become big-time TikTok influencers, and their influence has spread to other social media platforms.
The songs 'Prom Queen' and 'Cloud 9' have over 300 million and 285 million streams on Spotify respectively.
As of today, 'Prom Queen' was used in over 160 thousand TikTok videos.
After the song went viral, the band unsurprisingly garnered the attention of multiple record labels.
Trifilio and her band eventually signed a deal with the beloved indie record label Mom + Pop Music, and ended up releasing their very first full-length album called ‘Honeymoon’, which became a huge hit and received widespread praise.
It was even included in the New York Times and the Rolling Stones' lists of Best Albums.
Even before the initial release of their first full album, the indie band had managed to land a gig at the acclaimed Coachella Music Festival in California and shared the stage with some big names in the music industry.
Their ability to write inspiring and relatable lyrics is not the only thing that helped launched their career, as their elaborate music video for 'Prom Queen' also provided video content that helped appeal to gen z. Today, Beach Bunny has amassed a large following on other music streaming services such as YouTube and apple music thanks to their impressive array of elaborate music videos.
The single "Cloud 9" from their album “Honeymoon”, became the band's 2nd song to go viral on TikTok, where it was used as the audio for over 329 thousand videos.
Tiktok's wider influence
And the band isn't the only artist to receive global fame from TikTok music marketing. Other musicians have also benefitted, a great example being Lil Nas X after his song Old Town Road became a trending sound and garnered hundreds of thousands of short form videos on the TikTok app. After going viral, he gained the attention of multiple record labels and even went on to win a Grammy.
This could not have occurred without the magic power of the TikTok.
With the right marketing strategy and the favorable side of the TikTok algorithm, the app has the power to flip your music career right side up. Keep working hard on your music because you never know, your music could go viral too!
Artist Tips:
Visit our blog article for more information about promote music on TikTok, Visit our page for TikTok music promotion Find out how to get on Spotify Editorial Playlists
Good luck with your music!