Nobody knew what to do. The producers were lost. The music execs were confused, and the artists were stuck. The year was 2034, and TikTok was just unanimously banned around the world. It was like placing a ban on Google in 2025. Music came to a halt, and it dawned on the creative industry how much it relied on TikTok over the years, and how much the social media platform influenced art in the modern-day world.
It wasn’t the first time TikTok would be banned. In 2025, the app was banned in the United States of America for a whopping 16 hours. Content creators went wild, and people who had TikTok as their source of livelihood began to cry out on other platforms. It was like taking the jobs of over 10 million people, all at once. People cried, raged and a few committed suicide. 16 hours later, the President-Elect at the time decided to bring the app back to the US, and peace was restored unto the world.
The world never saw the full implication of one of the fastest growing apps in the digital age. It lasted just 16 hours, and the music industry didn’t have the time to feel the impact of the ban. Nobody saw big dips in their music streams, and campaigns were paused for a while, nothing more. They continued when the app was brought back to the masses, and promotional strategies remained the same.
Afrobeats continued to thrive off the globalization and acceptance of the app, and its superstars continued to use the app as a marketing tool. Songs kept blowing up through the platform. TikTok was here to stay, or so they thought.
When the app was banned for the second time, everyone knew there was trouble. It’s always different if an app falls off and is slowly replaced by another one. Then you can move your fanbase while growing on the new one and understanding its dynamics. A ban? Immediate. It was worse because superstars round the world focused on the Tok app. They directed all their attention, energy and content there. TikTok promised virality if there was quantity and relatability, and they milked it.
Some of the biggest stars in the world didn’t bother having X and Instagram pages, and it proved to be the wrong move. Careers were set back. Streamers were jobless. Artists were confused on how to sell music digitally. Producers couldn’t highlight and learn from sound patterns. The A&Rs didn’t know who to sign because they couldn’t tell who and what the fans wanted. Everyone started to try to remember how music was promoted before TikTok. The entire creative industry became a mess. A big one, all thanks to the TikTok ban.
