AURORA becomes the next artist to go viral on TikTok
TikTok, the short-form video hotbed for viral campaigns, has helped another artist capture the platform’s #challenge-motivated audience.
Norwegian artist AURORA and her UK label, Decca Records, tapped Gen Z influencer company Fanbytes and Blackstar London for her latest track ‘The River’.
The single had already caught attention for its message around mental health and its request for people to be more open and understanding when it comes to mental health.
Now, through the Fanbytes-developed #youcancrychallenge, TikTok users’ video uploads have amassed over 1.4 million views, with over 3,000 videos created in the first few days.
#youcancrychallenge
The idea was created after Fanbytes ran over 100 influencer campaigns on the platform.
The company found that many of Fanbytes’ influencers created content around mental health on a daily basis, and also that ‘duets chains’ were a trend. This is where TikTok users create side by side videos where people can mimic or complete actions taken by other fans – AKA an endless stream of content and a sure fire path to going viral.
The challenge is simple, and plays to the chorus of AURORA’s ‘The River’ below:
“You can cry, drinking your eyes
Do you miss the sadness when it is gone? (Gone)
And you let the river run wild (Gone)
And you let the river run wild
You can cry (You can cry), drinking your eyes
I don’t miss the sadness when it is gone (Gone)
And the feeling of it makes me smile (Gone)
As I let the river run wild”
TikTok users started the challenge by “crying” into a camera initially and then smiling.
“They then synced hands with other influencers,” explained Fanbytes. “This created the direction for how to get involved in the challenge for their fans.
“Fans were encouraged to get involved through the duet feature, with users being encouraged to join. The duet chain began to develop when influencers and fans started to link videos together through the linking of hands.”
Watch the #youcancrychallenge in action below:
The videos using the song have resulted in a total reach across the platform of 5 million.
Fanbytes founder and CEO, Timothy Armoo told MBW he believes the campaign had such a profound impact because of how well it emotionally resonated with TikTok users.
“Most campaigns on TikTok are just lip-syncing tracks where people create funny skits around a track, however this took a very different approach and connected with people much deeper than just a listen to the song,” he said.
AURORA is the latest in a string of artists proving TikTok is a hit-making platform.
While we all know about Lil Nas X and his ascent after ‘Old Town Road’, the number of artists using TikTok as a career and song launchpad is now in the millions.
Rapper-producer Sueco the Child went viral on the platform with ‘Fast’, and Flo Milli’s ‘Beef FloMix’ hit #2 on Spotify’s Viral 50 in April after a TikTok viral stint. Meanwhile, Y2k and bbno$’s ‘Lalala’ topped Spotify’s Viral 50 on July 1 after a campaign which included TikTok, Craigslist and Tinder.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.