With the rise of social media and its influence on every day lives, we have seen a series of overnight success stories for bands and musicians alike. What could be the reason why these people find themselves going viral and topping charts from a single post?
So if you don't live under a rock you'll know what TikTok is and we're certain you know what it means to have a "trending" sound. It could be anything from a movie clip to a song you've never heard before and when something catches, it spreads like wildfire. We're sure theres a song you have heard recently thats been on repeat in your head that you heard from social media.
One classic instance is the rebirth of Nu-Metal and similar nostalgic sounds. For a long time people absolutely shit on Creed, but a once hated band found themselves on a world tour because the tides of the internet shifted. Small and large creators revamped the bands hit songs; some because of nostalgia and some because they had heard it for the first time on a social media app like TikTok. Limp Bizkit and Deftones found themselves in a similar situation with Deftones frontman Chino Moreno saying "We literally are bigger than we've ever been in our almost 30-year existence..."
So who got famous?
Around 2022 the band Dexter & The Moonrocks started gaining traction on TikTok from posting their music and highlighting alt girl influencers on what they called "The Wall". They would find tattooed "Alt-Baddies" from the app and tape their picture to the wall joking that if you liked these girls you would probably like their music.
The pictures might have seemed strange but the bit worked and they found themselves on a viral wave and a unique marketing strategy that nobody else had thought to do and it boosted their name. Their marketing had gained them a following and when "Freakin' Out" went mega-viral, a lot of people already knew who these guys were. You couldn't open TikTok without hearing these guys playing behind every viral video on the platform with their trending song.
Another notable band that didn't necessarily gain stardom from TikTok but rather boosted their already growing fanbase is Bad Omens. In late 2022, their song "Just Pretend" skyrocketed all across TikTok and other social media platforms with major influencers and casual users creating their own trends to the song. Stemming off of their album "The Death of Peace of Mind"; the hit song has over 300 million streams on spotify with no end in sight as the song still trends among younger audiences who are just discovering the band.
photo: Jennifer Racho
With the ever evolving social media influence, who will be the next band that rises to stardom? One thing is for sure, these bands could not have gotten where they are today without fans sharing their music and keeping the hype up. So if your friends are trying to make it on social media, one share could be the difference they need to be the next big hit.
Listen to Dexter & The Moonrocks HERE
Listen to Bad Omens HERE
Listen to Deftones HERE