Is TikTok Actually Creating More One-Hit Wonders?

March 29, 2023 9:03 AM

The portion of artists who failed to follow-up their first hit has been relatively constant in the last two decades — but rose in 2020.
posted by Etrigan (21 comments total)

This seems true on the face. Excited to read the theory, but it seems logical that virality isn’t great for second hits.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:05 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Some of the graphs are weird. Yes, of course artists who first made it to the upper reaches of the Hot 100 since 2020 have generally had a hard time appearing in the same position at least 10 times, because it's only 2023.
posted by goatdog at 9:23 AM on March 29, 2023 [13 favorites]

I await what Todd in the Shadows says about this.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:42 AM on March 29, 2023 [7 favorites]

I admit I haven't R'd the FA yet, but I can't help but wonder if there was anything else going on in 2020 that might have, possibly, restricted an artist's ability to tour small venues, collaborate with other musicians, and generally hone their craft. Possibly also something that impacted everyone's ability to go hear live music, and influenced us to keep seeking out newer and newer sensory inputs online instead of being able to mingle organically in our breathing meaty vessels?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:10 AM on March 29, 2023 [13 favorites]

It's also odd to select the last two decades as the comparison. Why? What was the trend beforehand regarding one hit wonders using this article's definition? Perhaps the last two decades were the aberration and we're now returning to the historical norm.

Also, it says that the share of OHWs went as high as 61% in those two decades, while in 2020 it was 70%, which...really doesn't seem all that notable.
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:17 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

...failed to follow-up their first hit...

Why is this being framed as failure? Why not "There is a dramatic increase in people who aren't ultimately professional entertainers who nonetheless have had their voices magnified for a moment" ?
posted by amtho at 10:56 AM on March 29, 2023 [11 favorites]

I mean, I get that it's good for artists to be able to focus on art without day jobs, but: I personally will probably connect more with art made _by_ people with day jobs.
posted by amtho at 10:57 AM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

Yes, I would love it if this thread evolved into a "what is art" discussion.
posted by amtho at 10:59 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Why is this being framed as failure?

Because Billboard is a trade journal for the recording industry.

It's not People, it's Variety.
posted by box at 11:07 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's also odd to select the last two decades as the comparison. Why? What was the trend beforehand regarding one hit wonders using this article's definition?

Actually there's a good and specific reason: the 1996 Telecommunications Act and the subsequent consolidation of radio that really changed the way the business of pop music worked. Twenty years specifically is probably just a round number , but it does make sense not to overlap the '90s and the '00s.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:20 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Why not "There is a dramatic increase in people who aren't ultimately professional entertainers who nonetheless have had their voices magnified for a moment" ?

Pretty much what I'd expect from an industry not throttled by distribution channels. Less repeat stars and more 15 minutes of fame people.
posted by Mitheral at 12:39 PM on March 29, 2023

The premise is stupid. Social Media and "viral" content is one hit wonder by definition.
posted by lkc at 1:18 PM on March 29, 2023

I don't know what art is, but the algorithm knows what I like.
posted by Phssthpok at 1:36 PM on March 29, 2023 [7 favorites]

...it seems logical that virality isn’t great for second hits.

I wonder if this depends on how a song became viral and whether it was intentional. I remember when Megan Thee Stallion was building momentum, and part of that ewffort was encouraging her fan base to viralize dance challenges to her music. So, unlike many (most?) recordings that go viral by an accident of fate, when it happened with her recordings it was by design.
posted by slkinsey at 1:39 PM on March 29, 2023

I admit I haven't R'd the FA yet, but I can't help but wonder if there was anything else going on in 2020 that might have, possibly, restricted an artist's ability to tour small venues, collaborate with other musicians, and generally hone their craft.

Yeah, the electronic music scene as far as releases are concerned has been totally blowing up the last like 1-2 years and there's so much new music coming out I can't even possibly keep up with it all.


I think I actively hate tiktok and it makes me feel old. Yeah, I get it, like any platform there's good to be found but the algorithm and content is basically weaponized, cancerous, mutagenic and possibly even teratogenic ADHD fuel and it's been leaking out all over the internet making a huge mess and using up all of the oxygen in unexpected places.

A huge part of why I don't like tiktok is specifically because of the music because with a lot of the super short videos that are leaking and going cross platform, you just get like 5-10 seconds of an intro loop of a song blasting and of course it's scientifically engineered to be an earworm to go viral and get stuck in your head like a skipping record. And even worse it's often slowed down or sped up and massively distorted and too loud to punch through phone speakers, like that horrid "Oh No!" song sampled from the Shangri-Las.

Oh help it's stuck in my head again but it replaced yet another broken TikTok loop scratching around somewhere in the back.
posted by loquacious at 2:55 PM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Why is this being framed as failure? Why not "There is a dramatic increase in people who aren't ultimately professional entertainers who nonetheless have had their voices magnified for a moment" ?

I mean, I see your point, there's certainly nothing wrong with amateurs getting their moment in the sun. OTOH I've talked to (and worked with) no small number of people who are trying to make a living as professional entertainers who can't even get meetings with record labels or agents or managers unless they can show that they already have a significant social media following and some viral videos.

So like a lot of things, especially in the creative arts, what seems to start out as "power to the people" winds up as just another method of gatekeeping.
posted by soundguy99 at 3:05 PM on March 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

Yes, I would love it if this thread evolved into a "what is art" discussion.

It's pop music we're talking about, though, so it's more like a "what is love" discussion...

baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more.
posted by kaibutsu at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's funny, I just listened to a good podcast about one-hit wonders. (And now Flagpole Sitta has been in my head for like a week.)
posted by gottabefunky at 10:27 PM on March 29, 2023

Planet Money Records Vol. 3: Making a Hit
posted by box at 4:53 AM on March 30, 2023

professional entertainers who can't even get meetings with record labels or agents or managers unless they can show that they already have a significant social media following and some viral videos

This strikes me as better than giving them contracts they can never pay back. "Significant social media following' seems like a lower barrier than having to self-fund your debut album with the funds made from gigging, and lower than showing actual album sales.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:05 AM on March 30, 2023

Call me crazy, but doesn't this article start with one whopper of an assumption: that TikTok practically "runs the music industry"?

They're describing correlations throughout, not causation. But because the article frames TikTok as the driving force, it's easy to assume this is because of TikTok.

But nothing about this data suggests a cause.
posted by yellowcandy at 8:15 PM on March 30, 2023