With 1.9 billion users over the world, TikTok is not just a social media platform, it has become a music powerhouse that has a significant influence on today’s music industry. Users of the app are exposed to different genres of music through the hundreds of videos, vlogs and edits they watch daily. Certain clips get popular based on their trend value and how short and catchy they are. This new exposure of music impacts their users’ music listening habits in several ways.
TikTok has the ability of bringing old nostalgic songs back to life and making them popular once again. Some songs that have been brought back from decades ago are “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac (1977), and classics that come far back from the 60s like “Pretty Little Baby” by Connie Francis. In recent years, those songs have found a new life in the newer generations through TikTok. They gained millions of new streams and had many TikTok videos made using their songs. “Pretty Little Baby” was used over 28.4 million times and gained in total over 68 billion views through TikTok posts, according to U Discover Music. It was also considered the app’s 2025 Track of the Year. This platform influence surprised the older generations, with their songs now in the playlists of younger generations.
“I was listening to ‘Pretty Little Baby’ one day and I didn’t know it was even old until my dad told me he used to listen to it when he was younger,” FHS freshman Angelina Min said.
While TikTok revives classics, it also shapes the new music industry. The same trends that revived older songs also encourage artists to write new music that will fit TikTok’s short, catchy and trendy format. Artists now think in moments; they try to fit a certain part of their song to fit a trend, even if the rest of the song does not align with that, according to Sound Space. With billions of views to millions of dancing videos, these songs show how today’s artists feel forced to chase trends and are evaluated by virality instead of artistry.
TikTok also helps new artists gain recognition, like Olivia Dean’s recent success in which this platform has helped her receive her 2026 Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category. The 24-year-old British artist popularity exploded in the June of 2025 when she dropped her second album “Man I Need,” which hit #1 in the UK and struck massive global attention. With her empowering, relatable songs, they inspired millions of videos that turned tracks into massive hits. From bringing back classic hits, to launching new artists, this platform proves that influence today is gained through virality.
