How to upload your music to TikTok: step-by-step detailed instructions
Do you want to become successful and have your music heard by the whole world?
Whether you're about to release a single or have already recorded an album, getting your music on TikTok is an important step for independent artists these days. With viral video content and growing user engagement, it's a great promotional tool. In addition, you can even receive royalties just like other major music streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music. How do you upload your music to TikTok?
MigNews will share the instructions to get the maximum chance of success. Follow it and make sure this social network continues to play a bigger role in the music industry.
How to upload your music on TikTok: Record a song with good sound quality
Even if you’re only using a snippet of your song for a 15-second video on TikTok, you’ll need to make sure you have a high-quality recording of the full song to send to a distributor (more on that in the next steps). Hone your original sound and choose a song that reflects your unique style. Upbeat, catchy songs tend to engage your audience better, so choose one from your repertoire if you can.
If possible, make a recording with clear and high-quality sound. Record indoors with minimal background noise. You don't want any sound problems (like annoying cars) to get in the way of using your song.
TikTok can detect whether a song uses copyrighted material. To avoid copyright infringement, make sure you clear the rights to the music, or better yet, don't use copyrighted material at all. If you decide to use a cover version of a song, make sure you use the music with the copyright owner's permission. Also, try to make your version of the song unique to grab the attention of your audience.
Choose a snippet of a song for your TikTok music library
Have you ever wondered how TikTok users add music to their video posts? Users can add their favorite music manually in the video editor. But their posts are likely to be deleted if they don’t use the original audio. That’s why TikTok has its own music catalog with song snippets that can be used for 15-second or 60-second videos. This music library helps users find popular songs to add to their content without worrying about copyright infringement.
Since your music will end up in this audio library, you need to make sure you choose the perfect snippet of the song to feature. If you’re an artist, select that snippet during the sharing process (more on that in the next section). When choosing a snippet of a song, think about what kind of content you think will fit your style.
Do you want to do catchy videos, soothing videos, lip-sync videos? Give your target audience the best version of what they do. Also, think about what part of the song highlights your unique, individual sound. Choose a clip that offers good options for different time slots for TikTok videos (15-second and 60-second). Once you've decided on that, you'll be ready for the next step.
How to upload your music to TikTok: sign up with a music distributor
To successfully promote your music on TikTok, it is important to choose a music distributor, Source: pexels.com
TikTok gets songs from music distribution platforms and adds them to its audio library. This way, creators can add songs to their TikTok videos and be sure that they are using the music with the permission of the artist or publisher. If you have been in the music industry for a long time, you probably already have a contract with a distributor who sends your music to other digital music platforms. If you are just starting out, you will need to sign a contract with one of them. There are many options, and ultimately it all comes down to which pricing structure works best for you.
Once you sign up, ask them how best to add TikTok to your distribution list. Each of them has their own licensing agreements with music providers. So be sure to ask them about the payment structure they have agreed to with TikTok.
Finally, make sure your metadata is in order: artist name, song title, etc. should be clearly linked to your song.
Find an influencer to include your song in a TikTok video
If you want to profit from uploading your music to TikTok, the next step is to find an influencer who will use your song in one of their videos. Marketing strategists often refer to this as influencer marketing or creator marketing. And it can be applied to the music marketing field as much as it can to any other industry.
It goes without saying that the first influencer you should hire should be yourself, creating engaging content for your followers (and appearing on your TikTok “for you page”). But if you’re just starting out and feel like you need an extra push to reach a wider audience on TikTok, then it makes sense to hire an additional influencer.
An influencer is an experienced content creator with a large audience of active users. When you appear in one of their TikTok videos, your song reaches a wider audience than you could reach on your own. And since their followers are engaged with their content, you can expect to see comments/shares, etc.
There are two fairly simple ways to find influencers on TikTok:
- You can build relationships with other accounts yourself, participating in them, and eventually reaching out to them with a collaboration proposal. You then negotiate a payment/collaboration with these creatives in exchange for a post using your music.
- Or you can hire an agency to run a marketing campaign on your behalf. These agencies already have hundreds of influencer relationships. So all you have to do is sit back and let them handle all the nitty-gritty so you can focus on other things (like writing songs).
TikTok can seem like a mystery to those who are just learning their way around the music industry. By following these steps, you will feel confident uploading your music to TikTok and starting to promote yourself as an independent artist.
What about Instagram? How do you upload your music to it? Read our detailed guide here.
