For up and coming artists, it’s an exciting - and viable - dream to have your song randomly hit virality and blow up on TikTok. It’s a strategy we’ve seen propel major musicians into the limelight, from Doja Cat’s “Say So” to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License”, but also bring fame to lesser known independent artists without big labels backing them up. TikTok’s noticed it, too - and they’re launching SoundOn to help support those independent artists.
Musicians can now make money every time a TikTok is made with their sound or song thanks to the new SoundOn initiative, which acts as a music distribution platform. Artists can sign up to the platform to upload and license their songs for use on TikTok, and for the first year, will receive 100% of the royalties. Even after this introductory period is over, signees will still retain 90% of royalties.
Tiktok themselves directly said that the platform “allows artists to upload their music directly to TikTok and begin earning royalties, when that music is used [...] and provides a range of promotional tools and support.”
One of the particularly notable features of signing on with SoundOn is the assurance that artists will be able to hold on to their masters, remaining the owners of all rights and royalties to their creations (famously an issue of contention in the corporate side of the music industry).
So what does this mean for small artists? If signed up to SoundOn, their song blowing up on TikTok doesn’t just mean a higher follower count and a growing fanbase - it means actual dollars in the bank. Artists can begin to earn real-world numbers tangentially with their online growth, as the path between online success and IRL success with tangible outcomes becomes shorter and easier to traverse.
SoundOn has launched in totality in the US, UK, Brazil and Indonesia, with Australia and other countries likely following suit soon.
Want to learn more? Check out soundon.global for more information.
