BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – In the past two years since TikTok became more popular, it has become a platform that enables everyday emaSwati to become famous for being their authentic self.
From Christian Dude, Belinda Chester, Onicah, Poet Amandla, Nothando Hlophe to Gcinisizwe Buthelezi. These are some of the many local artists that have garnered an audience and support on TikTok.
The above-mentioned stars have over 3000 followers and their videos are accessed by over a million viewers from around the world.
According to the internet, TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. The app is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a community.
Social Media Specialist and Digital Creator Nosizo Magagula said, 2023 is the year that TikTok did not become a monster.
“Instead of just a place where teens post dance moves to 30-second clips, it has become a launchpad for artists’ music careers. It is amazing how big and how important TikTok has become for locals,” she said.
In addition, Magagula said, with this newfound importance, TikTok’s rise within the music industry is notable due to the industry’s precarious time TikTok’s platform has advanced rapidly as a short-form video platform.
“TikTok is both a new cultural phenomenon and a trend. In 2020, the platform became the number 1 music search engine for people. In less than two years, the app was already an equal competitor to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, becoming one of the top five largest platforms in the world,” she said.
She highlighted that now it was easier to find artists in Eswatini because they are available on TikTok.
Worth noting is that in the past 10 years, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram have changed the way musicians find their audiences.
They transformed the genre of music clips shown on television, changed the technical capabilities of production, and the duration of the songs. Let’s do some retrospectives.
Magagula, advised local artists to jump on the TikTok bandwagon, while they still can to market their art.
“TikTok is shaping a whole new music industry where a song can become viral in one night. With TikTok, artists can receive more fame, recognition, and money than when they make the radio top 10 lists,”
“For TikTok, I recommend posting as many as you can around three times a day if you are building your following. Some bigger TikTokkers will post up to 10 times a day, but this may be a little much when starting out. If you are more established on the platform, try posting a couple within a day,” she said.
