How many videos do I need to go viral with a TikTok sound?

In recent years, TikTok has become an essential channel for music promotion, offering a unique opportunity for visibility and growth for both emerging and established artists.

However, even though TikTok promises rapid viral success, promoting a song on this platform comes with specific challenges and requires a targeted strategy to ensure the allocated budget delivers tangible results.

Why doesn’t TikTok automatically convert to Spotify?

What does it mean that TikTok doesn’t automatically convert to Spotify? Contrary to popular belief, a song that gets views on TikTok does not automatically translate into increased plays on other platforms like Spotify. TikTok’s mechanism relies heavily on the virality of sounds—the number of videos that users create using the track. Only if a sound reaches a critical popularity threshold on the platform users will start searching for the complete track on other platforms, such as Spotify, for a deeper listening experience.

If this critical point isn’t reached, even the best TikTok ad campaigns can be ineffective, risking a poorly allocated budget without any substantial return in Spotify streams.

TikTok’s “organic conversion”

The real conversion from TikTok to Spotify occurs when a track garners enough attention to make users actively seek it out. This process, which we can call organic conversion, is the primary goal of any music campaign on TikTok. In other words, conversion happens when a sound goes viral enough that users want to listen to it on Spotify on their own.

How many videos do I need for my sound to go viral?

From collected data, a clear guideline has emerged: for a TikTok sound to have a significant conversion on Spotify, it should reach at least 1,000 videos created within the first week of release. This target lays the necessary popularity foundation to help the sound circulate naturally, attract a broader audience, and spark curiosity about the full track.

Once this threshold is achieved, a self-promoting chain reaction is likely, where users start actively searching for the song, adding it to playlists, sharing it, and distributing it organically more effectively than any other promotional method.

The impact of TikTok playlists on virality

An often-overlooked aspect is the role of TikTok’s internal playlists, specifically those in the sound library. When a sound becomes viral enough to be included in one of these playlists, it gains automatic promotion, further amplifying its visibility. This works because when a creator is deciding which sound to use in a video, they can quickly browse TikTok’s playlists, boosting their own engagement through already viral sounds.

How to plan a winning TikTok strategy

Reaching the 1,000-video mark within a week might seem like an achievable goal, but in reality, it’s an ambitious challenge. Here are some tips to help you hit 1,000 videos within that first week:

• Influencer Collaboration: Engage influencers who can use the track creatively in their videos, increasing the chances of it going viral.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage fans to create videos using the track to start a trend (as seen in the viral remix of Pedro by Raffaella Carrà).
• Timing and Frequency: Posting content at the right time and consistently helps maintain attention on the sound, leveraging current trends, common themes, or trending topics.
• Allocated Budget: Allocating a budget that supports organic growth is essential to avoid wasting resources on campaigns that don’t yield conversions.

Something not quite clear?

Let’s recap. TikTok is a highly valuable platform for music promotion, but to ensure that people actively search for your music on Spotify or other platforms, it requires a precise, winning strategy.

The goal of 1,000 videos in the first week is an important benchmark, but it’s not a guarantee of success, as audience behavior can be unpredictable. However, you can boost your chances by reaching out to influencers to create videos with your sound or encouraging users to use it in creative ways that appeal to a broad audience, triggering interest, sharing, and natural promotion of the track.

Wondering how to find TikTokers or influencers?

On Matchfy, you’ll find a section dedicated to TikTokers and influencers we’ve collaborated with, so you can connect with the best contacts to distribute your music effectively. We’ve left a convenient link below, and if you need further clarification, don’t hesitate to reach out to us through Matchfy’s support chat!