Tinashe’s viral hit “Nasty” has taken the UK by storm, becoming the TikTok song of the summer. Despite its massive success on the video-sharing app, the song only reached number 66 in the UK charts and 61 in the US. This raises questions about TikTok’s influence on the music industry and whether viral success translates to mainstream success.
The song, taken from Tinashe’s seventh album Quantum Baby, gained popularity in April when a video of British dancer Nate de Winer grooving to the sensuous track went viral. Since then, the song has been used in over 10 million TikTok videos and has become a cultural phenomenon, with celebrities like Christina Aguilera and Janet Jackson recreating De Winer’s dance.
Tinashe, whose career has faced setbacks due to record label issues, expressed her surprise and gratitude for the song’s success, stating, “I definitely think that everything that I’ve done up to now, all those grinding it out moments where I just had my head down and was just putting out the best music I could and being really consistent and making great visuals and things like that, it’s all led up to this.”
While Tinashe’s song was a breakout hit on TikTok, other artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Blood Orange also saw success on the platform this summer. However, TikTok’s influence on the music industry may be waning, as viral success does not always translate to chart success. The app’s focus on long-form videos and its recent dispute with Universal over royalty payments have also impacted its role in breaking new artists.
Despite these challenges, TikTok remains a vital platform for artists to promote their work. While the days of TikTok launching artists to global stardom like Lil Nas X may be dwindling, the app still plays a significant role in the music industry’s marketing landscape.
