TikTok embraces OOH to surface unsigned artists

TikTok is leveraging its reach to give aspiring artists a leg up in the cut-throat music industry by showcasing up-and-coming musicians who are worth listening out for.

The video-sharing portal has opened a dedicated ‘Find the unsigned’ in-app page to link artists with audiences, and is reaching out beyond its walled garden to the streets of Britain’s cities to ensure this message carries far and wide.

Strategically-placed billboards and posters will sprout at music venues up and down the land, including the Brixton Academy in London and the O2 Apollo in Manchester, to ensure music fans get an earful of new musical talent such as Nathan Evans, who transformed from delivering mail to delivering hits after inadvertently triggering a Sea Shanty revival.

Paul Hourican, head of music operations UK at TikTok, said: “TikTok is a platform that’s made for discovery, which makes it easy for people to hear artists for the first time. Our community are constantly championing new artists and we’ve seen some incredible examples of that in the past year – from Liv Harland and Emelie Hallett busking from their home towns and the global community on TikTok, to Nathan Evans and A1 x J1 going from bedroom to billboard.”

TikTok, which has just signed Publicis Groupe as its first e-commerce agency partner, prides itself as a platform for music discovery, claiming that 80% of members discover new music while browsing.