I absolutely adore concerts; live music in a packed room with everyone building energy off each other is an incredible feeling. It gives people the chance to see artists in-person, creating a physical bond to someone they appreciate. I’ve been to quite a few shows and they have always been fun (even the one where I kept getting elbowed in the head). However, there have been some instances in the past months involving artists who have a popular song on the social media platform Tik Tok and the audiences that show up to them. Most recently, videos of Steve Lacy have been posted where the people at his show only knew one line of one of his songs, resulting in some awkward silence and probably an unenjoyable experience for everyone involved.
Tik Tok and Music
It is safe to say Tik Tok has helped many artists streamline their success in the industry. Companies are always looking for what is trending on the platform; trying to find the next big thing to sell. If they see a song “blowing up”, that creator now has new brand deals, contracts, and the traction to go on tour.
Such a system is a blessing and a curse. Artists are discovered and quickly build popularity and revenue, giving them chances to keep putting out music while living comfortably. But, all of this is largely unpredictable. A song can be the best thing you’ve ever heard, but if there is no Tik Tok trend behind it, it’s not going to perform as well as it could. It forces artists to write catchy “one liners” that are vague enough to be used as a trendy audio but also representative of the entire song and its creators. This is an incredibly difficult task that can create too much pressure and push people out of the music industry.
There’s a Popular Song and Now the Artist is Touring: Who’s Going to the Show?
Concerts usually have a wide range of audience members. You have the fans who have been listening for years and years, casual fans, friends of other people going to the show, and those just there for a good time. But with Tik Tok, there is a new (and large) subgroup of people going to shows because they heard one of the artist(s)’s songs on the app.
A quick note: If you find some good music on Tik Tok that you like, you should absolutely go to concerts or enjoy that song. You also don’t have to memorize every single song being performed, concerts are merely about connection through sound, not how much you know. When I refer to the Tik Tok subgroup, I mean the people who go just to say they went to that concert and heard the popular song live, not to support the artist. These people also don’t try to enjoy the rest of the show, losing interest immediately after the popular bit is played.
The best example of this is the audience at a recent Steve Lacy concert. In the video, Steve is up on stage performing his popular song “Bad Habits”. There is a little section (about ten seconds) that has blown-up on Tik Tok, and when Steve gets to this part, the audience erupts and is singing along, but right after that ten second bit, the venue goes silent because they don’t know any other part of the song. Steve Lacy is definitely taken aback by the quick energy change, and it is all around an awkward video to watch.
This is a pretty common occurrence that I have even experienced within the past three months. You cannot help but feel bad for the artists because they put so much time and energy into their craft, yet many people only know a very small portion of their work. Then they’re left with a quiet crowd, making it a lot harder to feel comfortable performing. If the artist is uncomfortable, the show is uncomfortable, no one is having a good time.
You Can Still Have Fun at Concerts!
Don’t let this discourage you from going to concerts. They can still be a wonderful experience regardless of how much of the music you know. Just make sure you help keep the energy up. Dance, clap and cheer, look up the lyrics mid-show and sing along. Do anything to be involved in the show and that will be more than enough!