The Sound of Music and Its Impact on Social Media

Ever wondered why little Jimmy is singing Fleetwood Mac’s most popular song, or why a remix of Free Bird is the catalyst behind a 10-year-old’s knowledge of Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Chances are, it’s probably social media’s doing. 

How Did We Get Here? 🧭

The concept of social media’s reliance on music has been around since its conception. All social media roads (one way or another) lead back to Myspace, a networking service first introduced in 2003. Although it offered a way for internet users to socialize, the platform quickly gained popularity for its user-friendly music interface, allowing artists and bands to share their music not just with record companies, but with the world. It changed the status quo for musicians, creating an avenue of exposure that proved different from the traditional route. Bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Arctic Monkeys, and even Panic! At The Disco probably wouldn’t have registered a blip on the radar if it weren’t for Myspace.

The introduction of new competitors, poor management, and other technical issues contributed to Myspace’s relatively premature demise in the late 2000s. However, its impact remains perpetual. 

Along with Twitter and Facebook, the mid-to-late 2000s saw the emergence of YouTube and SoundCloud, two services that heavily rely on sound and music. 

But it didn’t stop there. 

In 2008, Spotify made music access easier than ever before. In 2010, iTunes launched the short-lived iTunes Ping, a platform that looked to mimic the likes of SoundCloud. Although it eventually failed just two years into production, the blueprint was clear–music created noise in more ways than one.

The question here is simple: how did little Jimmy find out about Fleetwood Mac?

Trends 📈

Instagram and TikTok.

To call these platforms giants is an understatement: they are the gold standard of networking. 

Instagram and TikTok have become the go-to platforms for younger generations to experience social media. What they’ve also manifested into is the new-age way of advertising.

It’s what we at GOTYOU use for marketing and advertising, along with the vast majority of smaller businesses. Gone are the days of buying a 2×2 square advertising block in your local newspaper. Hello, 2025. No, there are no flying cars, but there are recipes for enhancing audience engagement on your social media posts through music. Fair compensation? Maybe not, but you work with what you have.

Every single day, new songs are trending on social media. I mentioned a remix of ‘Free Bird’ creating a fuss online, and I wasn’t lying; MOONLGHT, an EDM Producer, released an electronic remix of Free Bird about 11 months ago, which has since generated 8.2 million views on YouTube.

It’s not just “Free Bird” that’s been hogging the limelight. In 2020, TikTok user Dogg Face published a video of himself sipping on a cup of cranberry juice while skateboarding down a road with a snippet of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” playing in the background. Sounds like a fever dream, but that’s the reality of the internet.

In just a few days time, the post exploded. To date, it has amassed a whopping 14.6 million likes on TikTok. A variety of events spawned from the video, including a recreation of the video by none other than Mick Fleetwood himself. The video also helped propel the song back on the Billboard Hot 100, a full 43 years after its initial release.

What does this mean for businesses? It means that trends align with music. One video brought a four-decade-old song into the spotlight, and soon, everyone was searching for it on social media. Then what happens? Social media users see the popular video and soon begin posting videos featuring the song. Then boom–what was seen as a man skateboarding on a highway drinking juice has transformed an entire song into a social media trend.

Pattern Recognition 🧩

Small businesses would do well to latch on to these trends while they can, as they can boost visibility, engagement, and brand recognition. Even the most popular dance trends on social media often use the same songs to accompany their moves. Where it becomes confusing is pattern recognition: the top 50 TikTok songs in June range from the newest Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez to the 30-year-old “Just A Girl” by No Doubt. 

There is a lot of uncertainty here, so learning how to harness those trends quickly is essential. Much like the minds of this generation, trends shift rapidly in response to various factors and differ across platforms. However, keeping a keen eye on what’s trending is almost certainly the avenue towards success.

But what if you wanted to start a trend of your own? As you probably guessed, this involves more than just music. Instagram and TikTok populate users’ “for you” pages using different techniques:

Instagram:

1. Engagement – When a particular post receives more engagements than the average, it’s likely to be featured on more pages.
2. Post patterns/recurrences – Users are likely to stumble upon content from an account with which they regularly interact. Similar to accounts, posts that mirror ones previously viewed by the user are likely to populate their pages.
3. Recency – New posts receive a boost in the hopes of sending them to stardom.

Tiktok:

1. Location and language – The user is more likely to view content in their domestic range than content published outside of their country.
2. Recurrence – Similar to Instagram, TikTok will recommend posts and accounts that align with the user’s preferences based on the posts they view. 
3. Characteristics of Content – This includes captions, sounds, effects, and trending topics.
4. Trending elements – This involves sounds, dances, and music. Whatever’s trending is more likely to be featured for users.

These independent variables help shape the difference between a popular video of a man drinking cranberry juice on a skateboard versus a two-second lost video of a baby playing golf with a golden retriever. It doesn’t matter how niche your video is–if it doesn’t trend, then people won’t see it.

The algorithm can work for you or against you, which is what makes it either a boon or a demoralizing experience for small businesses. The “easier way” is to try to catch up with an established trend. It takes luck, and as the saying goes, it’s about throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Just make sure to throw it hard enough so that somebody can hear it.