Highly engaging and with a trending culture that can skyrocket an artist’s career in a matter of days, TikTok is the most crucial social media platform for musicians right now, as it lets your music be discovered by a diversified and active audience eager to find hidden gems across the web.

There have been so many successful stories of artists who had one of their songs included in a video that went viral. However, to become the next TikTok sensation, you must first get your music in the platform’s library.

Previously I talked about how to get your music on Instagram, and today, you’ll learn the steps to get your music on TikTok and how you can promote your music on the platform while having fun creating videos and engaging with your audience and other creators.

Let’s dive in!

TikTok, in a nutshell

Let’s start with the basics. TikTok is an app for sharing short-form videos.

In 2021, it was the most downloaded mobile app, reaching 1 billion active users, with 30.8M daily active users on iOS and 14.43M on Android. Since then, many creators, including musicians, have turned to TikTok to promote their music. This is why so many indie musicians also started to upload their music to the app.

TikTok has become one of the main platforms for discovering music, driving traffic to streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Having your music on TikTok, available for other content creators to us, can open up many opportunities to expand your audience.

Get your music on TikTok

Step 1. Prepare your tracks for distribution

Remember, it’s crucial to mix and master your songs professionally so they’ll reach the standards of TikTok’s library.

If you don’t have experience with mastering, you can use the many options available for online mastering. There are debates about using AI to master songs, but it’s a good choice when you don’t have the money to hire a mastering engineer.

Step 2. Upload your music to TikTok

There are two ways to upload your music to TikTok to create a video and make it available for your fans and other users: you can manually upload it in the app, or use a distributor. Let’s analyze both methods.

Upload your music as a sound

TikTok allows you to upload your music as a sound for your videos. When you upload an original sound like this, you’ll also allow other TikTok creators to use it in their content. Uploading your music will make you the original creator, and when people find a video with your song, they can track back to your profile and follow you.

The steps to upload your music manually as a sound are the following:

  1. Record your video with the track you want to use.
  2. Select the My Sound tab and click Upload to add your song to your video.
  3. Rename your sound’s Track Name and Artist Name by clicking the profile photo in the bottom right corner.
  4. Finish editing the video and post it.

Uploading your music as a sound is an easy and quick way to get your music on TikTok. Plus, it’s free! However, if you upload it this way, your music won’t be available in TikTok’s music library.

You can choose this method to promote music before the official release: build momentum using a teaser and then release your song through a distributor, so anyone can search for it in the music library once it’s released.

Upload your music to TikTok’s music library with a distributor

Opting to get your music on TikTok with a distributor is convenient when you are already releasing music on other platforms. If you already have a distributor, it can get your music on TikTok for you.

Plenty of companies will distribute your music on TikTok either for free, for a fee, or by taking a percentage of your revenues. They will also help you collect royalties from TikTok when your music is used to create a video.

Here’s my top 5 distributor list for you if you don’t know anyone:

  1. With RouteNote, you can upload to most streaming platforms and digital stores, including TikTok, for free, keeping 85% of your royalties. Alternatively, you can upgrade to the Premium plan to keep 100% of your royalties for a fee.
  2. TuneCore is another distributor that will upload your music to TikTok for free, keeping 80% of your royalties.
  3. Amuse’s Boost plan distributes to TikTok for $24.99 yearly. It allows you to schedule unlimited releases while keeping 100% royalties.
  4. Ditto offers a 30-day trial to upload your songs to TikTok and try their services like analytics and 100% of your royalties. After the trial period, the Artist plan is $19 per year.
  5. One of the best distributors for indie artists is Distrokid. It allows you to upload unlimited albums and songs, unlimited lyrics, and 100% of your royalties for $22.99 yearly.

The submission process varies depending on the distributor, but most follow these steps:

  1. Sign up for your preferred distributor.
  2. Upload your songs through the distributor submission section. You can find it on your dashboard. Look for something like “add new release” or “add a new song.”
  3. Fill in all the requirements, including song title, artist name, album title, art cover, lyrics, and song preview.
  4. The most important part is to select TikTok as a release platform for distribution.
  5. Wait for your release to be processed and accepted by your distributor. It may take a few days to appear on TikTok’s music library, so be patient.

Uploading your music via a distributor takes more time than doing it through the app, but you’ll be featured in the music library, and it’ll be easier for creators to find your songs and  for the distributor to collect your royalties.

Step 3. Let everyone know your music is on TikTok.

Once you have your music on TikTok, let everyone know about it by creating and sharing videos and asking your followers to create their own using your song. The same day your songs go live on TikTok, create videos with different content to see what your fans like.

You can create a challenge in advance to have them ready when your songs are released.

You have your music on TikTok. What’s next?

Your songs will be available as soon as you release your music on TikTok. So, it’s time to create content using your best songs. Here are some ideas for content you can use to promote your music on TikTok and have fun.

TikTok Challenges

Challenges have become the trend for every new music release and an excellent way for artists to connect with their fans. Challenges come in many shapes and forms: aside from the traditional singing and dancing contests, you can get creative and ask your fans to remix your song, lip-sing, or record themselves doing a social activity with your music in the background.

Use hashtags

Whenever you upload a video with your new release, create a unique hashtag to give your song a special meaning and identity in the platform. People can use this personalized hashtag to find your content and music. Finally, ensure you use all the appropriate hashtags related to your music genre and style.

Share your daily life

Give your fans a snippet of your life in the studio, behind the scenes of the production process, to make your fans follow the process and feel like they’re part of it. Or you can share something about your life: show them your creative, more intimate, and vulnerable side if you feel like it.

Fans want to understand what’s behind your lyrics and creativity, and the best way to do so is to show them who you really are.

Collaborate with other creators

Collaborating with other musicians or influencers, especially if they have a wider audience than yours, can put your music in front of millions of users quickly and efficiently. You can collaborate with other creators worldwide using TikTok’s Duet and Stitch features.

Duet

Have you ever watched a video on TikTok and thought, “Wow! I could add my voice to this instrumental song,” or do your guitar rendition of a violin song, or maybe you just like the singer so much you would like to sing with them?

With Duet, you can post your video side-by-side with another one. The two videos will play simultaneously on a split-screen. You can create your video and ask other musicians to join you with their preferred instrument or create a contest where your fans do a cover of your song.

To enable Duet on your profile, you must:

  1. Have a public account to allow other creators to duet with you.
  2. Select your privacy settings between Everyone or Friends.
    1. Everyone means any user in TikTok would be able to create a Duet video. For example, if you’re doing a contest with all your fans.
    1. Friends will allow only the people you are following and follow you back.
Let’s create a Duet video
  1. Find the video you want to Duet.
  2. Tap on Share.
  3. Select Duet at the bottom of the screen.
  4. Pick a filming option from the side panel.
  5. To begin and end your recording, hit the Record button.
  6. Tap the checkmark when you’re done with your video.
  7. Adjust settings and add a caption. Remember to use hashtags!
  8. Post the video.

Stitch

Another tool that allows you to use another user’s video is Stitch. By enabling it, you allow others to use a portion of your video for theirs. It’s ideal for competitions where you can introduce the challenge and let your fans and followers use it on their videos, followed by their video response.

When you Stitch a video, the videos won’t play simultaneously, but one after the other. Try uploading a part of your music video and inviting your fans to join in using Stitch to engage with them and get to know them. It may turn into a collaborative music video with your followers.

To enable Stitch on your profile:

  1. Make your profile public.
  2. Then choose between the two privacy settings.
    1. Everyone to allow any user to stitch your video.
    1. Friends allow only those who you follow and follow you back.
Let’s Stitch a video
  1. Pick a video you want to Stitch.
  2. Tap the Share icon to open the bottom menu.
  3. Select Stitch from the bottom menu.
  4. Select the video portion you wish to Stitch and tap Next.
  5. Record your video as usual and edit it.
  6. Tap on the check mark to finish your part of the video.
  7. Edit your video, add text, effects, or stickers, and tap Next.
  8. Write a caption, add hashtags, and post it.

Final thoughts

If you want to turn your latest track into the next TikTok hit, first, you need to get your music on TikTok and then understand the most relevant tools in the platform to help you succeed.

Start by uploading your music as sound on TikTok or finding a distributor to upload your albums and future releases. Then come up with a content plan and strategy to share your music. Engage with fans and other musicians or influencers to collaborate to reach more people that might like your song, share it, and make it go viral.

Have fun!