An article we read by Ben Toscher about TikTok explains how adolescents view music as a crucial component of their personal and social lives. This ties into having a feeling of belonging and finding your identity when you are younger, finding ways to cope with emotions and serve emotional needs, and understanding social behaviors (Toscher 2020). TikTok’s demographic is about fifty percent people who are under thirty years old according to the Omnicore Agency (Aslam 2022). The case we read estimated the demographic to be between fifty and sixty percent users between thirteen and twenty-four years old (Toscher 2020). Label marketers can help artists understand their fan base demographic better by knowing this type of data and which users are most present on which platforms, to best appeal to their needs (Toscher 2020).

During our interview with Sam Thieste, he mentioned that he recommends artists focusing on posting more consistently than others, and overall believes that the music should be what comes first and let everything else follow (Theiste et al. 2022). Furthermore, Sam mentioned that live events will not be replaced by virtual events although they are another option, as they don’t create the same energy as a concert or sense of community (Theiste et al. 2022). 

When the Spacebomb executives came to class, they mentioned that creativity is key to successful marketing. From our research, we believe that this includes having open conversations such as asking artists what they are comfortable with, getting lists of organizations they would like to work with when considering sponsorships, and really understanding why they make music.

It is important that artists feel comfortable with what content they are making.

Treating them as artists and humans rather than as a business, but still telling them why it is important to be on social media, and helping to teach them some best practices, are some great ways to support them, without overtaking their vision. Overall, marketers at labels are trying to help the artists tell their stories and communicate why they do what they do. Understanding their values and letting them put their own ideas into their social media and marketing content is critical because as the Spacebomb executives mentioned, their ideas are often different from what a label will come up with.