Fool Me Once

By George Karalexis & Donna Budica

The recent headlines deriding record labels for forcing their artists to "go viral" on Tiktok may not be completely UNtrue…but it is a little misinformed.

It mostly brings up a key truth about how the roles of artists and record labels have evolved. With over 60,000 new songs being distributed daily, majority from independent artists, the playing field for releasing music has been leveled in many ways. But it also means that standing out and sticking is harder than ever.

Aside from the sheer volume of music/artists, the greater digital landscape is omni-saturated within all forms of entertainment — influencers, streaming (and binging) shows, podcasts — all of which compete for the 24 hours we have in our day.

The point of all of this:

Artists have metamorphosed beyond musician into "always-on” persona in order to capture even a fraction of our attention.

And labels, in an effort to capitalize on consumption trends, are compelled to engineer viral moments under the guise that THAT is the primary way to stand out from the noise.

The reality is that virality can be reverse engineered. But the kernel being overlooked is that consumers are also smarter than ever, especially about forced, inauthentic content.

Fool me once…