make a note because I’m calling it right now: tiktok is going to consume a much larger part of the algorithmic music discovery market than any one expects

Why tiktok runs the music industry by @ansonseabra

One of his songs went from 20k streams a day to 240k streams a day after being trending on tiktok

New thesis: @charlidamelio 's quick fame on tiktok has a lot more to do with her facial expressions than people think

As someone who's been a competitive dancer since she was 5, she's practiced "facials" extensively -

(-see this youtube on how to make facials :
-or the facials in this famous les twins video, the video that broke multiple records for the most watched dance video on youtube
https://twitter.com/nwilliams030/status/1207707891744092167?s=20)

& therefore Charli naturally has engaging facials pluS the dance choreography she was quickly able to master (again, years of competitive dance)

This is clearly visible in her video with @jamescharles - 90% of her presence is cute facial expressions

Content that does well on tiktok also often uniquely explores micro-moments -

as the platform where we film up close, and watch video the most closely (video takes up 100% of the screen, unlike any other platform by default) https://twitter.com/tiktoktheory/status/1238158450846322691?s=20

The medium rewards facial nuance highly (it's engaging on a screen-wide video) https://twitter.com/nwilliams030/status/1170825220120334338?s=20

to the extent that a popular refrain on the platform is complaints that "more dynamic" or "technically excellent" dancers are less popular (i've wondered this myself)

But now i think that it's clear that often these other dancers ignore the satisfying small details of video

Wether it's the details of the dancers outfit, their facial expressions, their dynamic engagement with the depth of field from the camera (another thing charli excels at) -

Tiktok uniquely rewards and enhance attention to detail.

Here’s a good example of the ways the medium distorts acting

@kehlani gets it

h/t @nuuurbaaanuuu
https://twitter.com/kehlani/status/1241584347821436928?s=21 https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1241584347821436928

Obviously a lot of this comes from the early days of tiktok as musically, cosplay culture, and generally trying to replicate animated characters movement https://twitter.com/hereliesakiel/status/1133342022750760960?s=21 https://twitter.com/hereliesakiel/status/1133342022750760960

Prime example of moving like an animated character

Look at how insanely fast her facial improv is