Tai Verdes TikTok-ed his way to a breakout hit

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music, Music Interviews, Music History, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2021

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whether you’re a TikTok fanatic, or the app’s K-hole-inducing stream of content has forced you to delete it from your phone, its influence on music is undeniable. In 2020 the platform bragged that over 70 artists on the platform signed with major labels. TikTok’s success was linked to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders -- people were stuck at home and musicians couldn’t tour. And while trending dances and songs on TikTok may turn over weekly, with a billion monthly users, the social media platform has industry power. In 2021, Billboard’s Hot 100 was overflowing with TikTok hits -- over 175 according to the company -- more than twice that of last year. While major artists like J Balvin and Taylor Swift use the platform, TikTok’s algorithm is surprisingly good at exposing aspiring artists. Take Tai Verdes for example. While working his day job at the Verizon store. Ty set his mind on using TikTok to launch his musical career. When he released a video singing his song “Stuck In The Middle” in his Prius, millions saw him for the first time. Tai’s music has since been heard at Lollapalooza and on Top 40 radio. But like so many overnight successes, he built it up over years of practice and creative releases. If you want to know how social media has fundamentally changed music, you need to hear Tai’s Verdes tell his story to Switched On Pop’s Charlie Harding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Slack. With Slack, you can bring all your people and
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0:11.1	enable flexibility and automate workflows. Plus, Slack is full of game-changing features
0:16.7	like huddles for quick check-ins or Slack Connect, which helps you connect with partners
0:20.9	inside and outside of your company. Slack, where the future works. Get started at
0:26.9	Slack.com slash DHQ.
0:42.9	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm a songwriter, Charlie Harding. Probably the biggest story
0:46.6	in music over the past two years has been the way that the social media platform TikTok
0:51.8	took over the industry. I feel like I waffle between TikTok skepticism and sometimes
0:57.5	fanaticism on a weekly basis. But it's undeniable that it's endless waterfall of short-form
1:03.6	videos have up-ended music discovery and shifted musical taste. The algorithm will show you
1:08.6	videos you like, usually with licensed music in the background as backing tracks. Take a song
1:12.6	like Ty Verde's A.O.K. While working his day job at the Verizon store, Ty set his
1:30.3	mind on using TikTok to launch his musical career. If you want to know how social media
1:35.9	has fundamentally changed music, you need to hear Ty's story. Here's where it all started
1:41.3	in early 2020. It probably begins in a living room of an LA apartment. I was living at the
1:52.0	cheapest means possible. I had a home depot made shelf on the side with like, Cinder
1:58.6	Bloxen wood. And then I also had a bed from Craigslist. See this right here? This is
2:05.8	supposed to be a living room. But I put up some sheets. And now I live in it. The living
2:12.0	was big enough to where there's like a tiny little passageway to where the bathroom
2:15.2	was and then it opened up into a kitchen. So every morning I'd hear my roommates who
2:19.5	really loved making smoothies at 8 a.m. God dang, I just living alone will be peaceful.
	...

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