Why Do Certain Songs and Bands Go Viral?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Some fans of the indie-rock band Geese have been feeling betrayed after learning that TikToks that looked like they were made by fans were actually created by a PR firm. But is this just what artists have to do to make it in our hyper-saturated music world? And when major record companies have long been accused of payola, is this even new? We talk about how TikTok and Spotify algorithms work, and whether we can ever discover music without marketing having its thumb on the scale. Guests: Glenn McDonald, former "data alchemist" at Spotify; founder, music microgenre catalog Every Noise at Once Darren Hemmings, author, industry insider newsletter Network Notes; founder and managing director, UK marketing agency Motive Unknown Bobby Davin, senior vice president of A&R and label partnerships, Stem Distribution Hiroki Tanaka, former lead guitarist, Canadian experimental prog group Yamantaka // Sonic Titan; just released the solo album ISAN (遺産) Olivia Jones, associate music analyst, MIDiA Research Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.4	That's g-e-ne.com.
0:33.9	From K-QED.
0:36.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrival. After years playing music from their home base in Brooklyn, the band Geese became a sensation in 2025.
0:45.3	They play indie music and I first came across them in a little video about a tattooed dad trying to explain Geese to his befuddled wife.
0:53.3	Turns out that may have been part of the marketing campaign for Geese, not just something a fan turned out.
1:00.0	New article alleges that the popularity of Geese was a quote,
1:03.0	SIOP as a digital marketing company, among other things, created TikToks that look like they were from fans to promote the band.
1:10.0	Well, consider me sciop.
1:11.6	I guess their music is interesting.
1:13.7	And yet, even if the music is real, how much of the internet is fake?
1:18.0	And is it any different from the peyola of yore?
1:21.7	Joining us to help us sort through the issues, we have Glenn MacDonald, who's former
1:26.5	data alchemist at Spotify, founder of the
1:28.8	music microgenre catalog, Every Noise at Once, and author of You Have Not Yet
1:34.0	Heard Your Favorite Song, How Streaming Changes Music. Welcome, Glenn.
1:38.6	Hi.
1:39.7	We also have Bobby Davin, who's senior VP of A&R and label partnerships at Stamma Music Label.
	...

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