How Much Will I Make From TikTok Royalties?

I learned the insignificance of TikTok plays for music royalties after one of my tracks was featured in multiple TikToks totaling over twenty million “views” or “spins.”

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

In early May of 2020, I realized that one of my tracks had been viewed on TikTok over 20 million times in the prior four months. As you would expect I was surprised, doubtful, elated, cautiously optimistic, then finally cynical about what sort of royalties might follow. Most musicians’ eyebrows raised when I initially told them. Jokingly, I was told a few times, I would be rich. It made for a good story on the first day, or so; however, I knew I was unlikely to ever see much money from TikTok royalties.

It is significant that what first struck me was searching my artist name on TikTok, selecting the Sounds tab, and seeing that the unique TikToks featuring one of my tracks had gone from 40 in January, to 1,400 when I checked again in May. After taking a moment, I clicked to see what these 1,400 TikToks were and scrolled through an endless grid-ocean of content all utilizing my track. When I clicked on the top TikTok on the grid I could see swimmers racing next to each other in a pool, and my cropped, circular cover art spinning at the bottom of the screen. I could…