Dive Brief:

• TikTok this week launched a global campaign, “See Where Music Takes You,” designed to highlight its role as a destination for music discovery, according to details shared with Marketing Dive.
• A 30-second spot, “Follow the Music,” features “Love Me Not,” the hit song by Ravyn Lenae, whose success on TikTok helped launch her career. Supporting assets span TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
• The effort, handled by AKQA Casa, is inspired by TikTok’s influence on the global music landscape and features like Add to Music App, which helps users save music discovered on TikTok to their preferred music streaming services.

Dive Insight:

TikTok is cementing its status as a destination for music discovery with “See Where Music Takes You,” the ByteDance-owned app’s first large-scale campaign dedicated to the music experience on the platform, per release details. TikTok has increasingly played a role in shaping new trends and thrusting brands and products into the mainstream, and its influence on the music scene has been no different. Eighty-four percent of all songs that entered the Billboard Global 200 Chart in 2024 first gained traction on TikTok, according to data cited in release details.

At the center of its campaign is “Follow the Music,” a 30-second spot set to the song “Love Me Not” that brings to life the musical possibilities on TikTok beyond a song itself, including remixes, DJ mashups, and music trends, or the ability to connect with fellow music fans. The spot was directed by Nabil Elderkin, who has worked with artists like Dua Lipa, Tyla and Kendrick Lamar.

“See Where Music Takes You” also is intended to highlight TikTok’s efforts to turn everyday music listeners into active participants in music culture, thanks to features like its Add to Music App tool, which has been used to save over a billion tracks to music streaming services since its global launch last year. TikTok users in the U.S. also spend 46% more on music each month than the average music listener in the region, according to TikTok and Luminate’s 2024 Music Impact Report.

TikTok’s latest campaign was conceptualized, developed and executed by AKQA’s São Paulo studio AKQA Casa. The platform has actively sought to grow its music discovery capabilities recently, including through its new TikTok for Artists platform, announced in June, which is meant to help individuals and bands manage their in-app presence through enhanced data and insight tools. In January, the app launched a “Behind the Breakthrough” campaign highlighting its ability to help artists gain mainstream recognition.

A number of marketers have also embedded a music element into their TikTok activations. A back-to-school campaign from American Eagle in 2022 included the first brand application of TikTok’s SoundOn feature for a custom song, which served as the campaign’s anthem. Earlier this year, NYX Professional Makeup launched NYXTape, a mixtape created with five women artists, using the SoundOn platform. NYX also became the first brand to have an artist profile on the app.

TikTok’s campaign comes as its presence in the U.S. continues to be called into question, although the Trump administration’s repeated delays of a potential ban have largely quieted immediate concerns.