TikTok users ‘most fervent music consumers’

Prepared by entertainment data and research firm Luminate, the research includes data from the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Indonesia and other global regions for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

The report’s key findings reveal significant insights into the impact of TikTok on music discovery, streaming behaviour and off-platform spending, and its role in connecting local artists with global audiences.

Globally, TikTok users exhibit a remarkable propensity for discovering and sharing new music content on social or short-form video platforms, surpassing the engagement levels of the average user on similar platforms. In the US, TikTok users are twice as likely to discover music on short-form video platforms compared to the average user of such platforms.

TikTok users also demonstrate a heightened likelihood of using paid music streaming services compared to the average consumer. In the US, 62% of TikTok users are also subscribers to a music streaming service, a notable contrast to the 43% of consumers overall. 

Around the world, TikTok users surpassed the spending patterns of the average music listener across various markets. In the UK, TikTok users stand out by spending 49% more on music purchases compared to average listeners. In the US, 38% of TikTok users attended live music events and 45% purchased artist merchandise in the past year, outpacing the corresponding figures for overall music listeners, which are 33% and 35%, respectively.

The report also positions TikTok’s impact beyond individual user behaviour to influence global music preferences and artist reach. The platform’s audience demonstrates a distinct preference for international music, surpassing the average listener across all analysed markets. In the UK, TikTok users express a 77% higher likelihood of desiring access to global music artists compared to average music listeners. In the US, 46% of TikTok users engage with non-English music, a figure 27% higher than music listeners overall. Additionally, this audience is 33% more likely to consider global music access as “extremely important”.

“TikTok is already famous for being the launchpad for creating viral hits and breaking new artists, but we wanted to understand how TikTok and its users impact the music industry more broadly,” TikTok global head of music Ole Obermann said. “Luminate’s findings prove what we had long known: that TikTok is the driving force behind music discovery in the industry, and that TikTok users are active, engaged and highly valuable drivers of music industry revenues.” 

In Africa, TikTok has heavily influenced the local music industries, driving the global popularity of genres like Afrobeats and amapiano. Artists like Ghana’s Black Sherif, Nigeria’s CKay and South Africa’s Tyler ICU have seen international success, largely due to their music going viral on TikTok. This has also led to strategic partnerships with local players. In June, Africa-facing music streaming company Boomplay secured a partnership with TikTok to explore cross-promotion of trending content on both platforms via mutual playlists and content discovery. 

Luminate head of research Nick Lanzafame said: “Luminate was happy to collaborate with TikTok on this report, as it demonstrates the value of data and research in today’s entertainment ecosystem. After analysing the data, our team was able to help TikTok tell a data-driven, objective story, showcasing their impact as a source for music discovery and demonstrating how TikTok users are uniquely valuable to the music industry. We are always committed to unlocking the most essential data for our client partners, and in this report we were able to do that on a global scale, leveraging a number of comprehensive data sources.”

Read the full report here.