- With TikTok's future uncertain, music promoters are expanding their focus to Instagram and YouTube creators for more reliable music promotion.
- While Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts provide opportunities, they struggle to match TikTok's viral power, especially in music discovery.
- Creators like Max Schneider are seeing increased interest in promotions on Instagram and YouTube, even if it means lower rates compared to TikTok.
- While diversifying, music promoters continue to leverage TikTok until its future is fully determined, highlighting the platform’s unmatched power for music promotion.
As the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future continues, music promoters are recalibrating their strategies to ensure they remain relevant in the ever-evolving world of social media marketing. The possibility of a TikTok ban, driven by growing concerns over data privacy and government regulations, has prompted music promoters to look beyond the platform and explore new avenues for partnering with creators to promote their songs.
While TikTok has long been the go-to platform for music marketing and promotion, helping tracks go viral through dance challenges and viral trends, the recent climate has forced the music industry to adapt. Music promoters are now turning to Instagram and YouTube, both of which have strong short-form video capabilities, to ensure their campaigns don’t lose momentum.
The Shift from TikTok to Instagram and YouTube
For years, TikTok has been a powerhouse in the music promotion space. Creators have played a key role in driving music discovery, with the app's viral nature allowing even unknown songs to gain widespread recognition almost overnight. TikTok’s seamless integration with Spotify further enhanced its role, as users could easily add trending songs to their libraries.
However, with the uncertainty surrounding TikTok, many music promoters are widening their focus. As Itai Winter, VP of commercial partnerships at Genni, puts it,
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are the key platforms emerging as strong alternatives, providing opportunities for creators to integrate music into their content, even if they lack the viral reach TikTok is known for.
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts: Exploring Their Potential
Instagram and YouTube have always been strong contenders in the social media space, but their role in music promotion has traditionally played second fiddle to TikTok. While TikTok was designed with music and video integration at its core, Instagram and YouTube have needed to adapt their features to accommodate short-form video content.
For example, there have been 4.1 million videos created with the sound of the popular hit single "Anxiety" by Doechii so far on TikTok, largely populated by the "Somebody's watching me" dance trend on the platform.
@willsmith Waited 35 years for this dance to trend. Ib: @Mimii ♬ Anxiety - Doechii
The widespread virality of the dance trend has certainly played a part in the song debuting at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.
Despite this, both platforms have made great strides, making them increasingly attractive for music promoters looking to diversify their creator partnerships.
For instance, Instagram Reels offers a powerful platform for creators to share short-form video content, and with more than 2 billion monthly active users, it remains one of the largest social media networks globally. Similarly, YouTube Shorts, with its vast user base and integration with YouTube’s long-form video content, offers a robust platform for creators to showcase music and brand collaborations.
However, as Steve Sparrow, head of digital at Futures Music Group, explains,
While Instagram and YouTube are undeniably influential, they don’t yet have the same ingrained culture of music discovery and viral trends that TikTok is known for. TikTok’s discovery tools—like tapping on a trending sound and adding it to your Spotify library—make it uniquely suited for music promotion.
Creator Compensation and the Changing Economic Landscape
The economic aspect of creator partnerships is also shifting. On TikTok, music promoters typically paid mid-tier influencers between $200 and $300 per post, while top creators could command thousands of dollars.
As the spotlight moves to Instagram and YouTube, the cost structure remains relatively similar. However, creators are finding themselves more willing to accept lower compensation in exchange for diversifying their income streams, especially as demand for cross-platform content grows.
Max Schneider, a creator who built his career on TikTok but has since grown his following significantly on Instagram, notes that interest in Instagram music promotions has skyrocketed in 2025.
While his rates have slightly dropped in comparison to his TikTok deals, Schneider welcomes the opportunity to tap into new revenue streams without having to invest more effort than simply cross-posting content.
Schneider says, highlighting the ease with which creators can integrate music promotions into their existing content.
This shift toward multi-platform promotions is making it easier for creators to monetize their content while maintaining consistency across different social networks.
TikTok’s Role: Still Integral, But With a Diversified Strategy
Despite the growing investment in Instagram and YouTube, music promoters are not abandoning TikTok altogether. Both Winter and Sparrow stress that TikTok’s influence in music promotion cannot be underestimated, and while diversifying is important, TikTok remains a critical component of any music marketing strategy.
says Sparrow. As long as the platform remains viable, its ability to make songs go viral is unmatched, and music promoters are keen to take advantage of that power. In fact, the trend toward cross-platform promotion is not a pullback from TikTok, but an additional layer of strategy.
Music promoters understand that diversifying their creator partnerships across multiple platforms can help them reach different audiences while mitigating the risks of relying solely on TikTok.
The Future of Music Promotion in a Multi-Platform World
As TikTok’s future remains uncertain, the music industry’s ability to adapt and invest in alternative platforms will play a key role in ensuring that songs continue to be discovered and promoted in a rapidly changing digital landscape. The growing focus on Instagram and YouTube creators reflects a broader trend in the creator economy: diversification is key to success.
While TikTok may be the undisputed leader in music promotion, platforms like Instagram and YouTube have quickly become valuable partners in a music promoter's toolkit. Moving forward, the ability to balance TikTok's viral power with the unique strengths of other social platforms will shape the future of music promotion.
For now, music promoters are seizing the opportunity to invest in a broader creator ecosystem that can ensure their campaigns continue to thrive, regardless of TikTok’s uncertain future.
