Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ became an overnight smash. But how?

Lil Nas X credits the track viral success to its massive popularity on TikTok.

The rejection of the track on country music charts added to the story but it’s most likely TikTok that turned the song into a meme turning it into a smash hit.

The 19-year old Atlanta rapper has experience with creating memes, becoming a tweetdecker on Twitter as a teen. “I promoted the song as a meme for months until it caught on to TikTok and it became way bigger,” he told Time.

If you are unaware, TikTok is a media app that allows you to create short music videos of 3 to 15 seconds and short looping videos of 3 to 60 seconds. The app is now playing a role in viral trends, spawning internet celebrities and launching songs.

16 year old Evie Irie releases the track ‘Bitter’ as well as a music video. The track clocked nearly 500k streams on Spotify in less than two weeks. The Australian artist who lives right outside of Sydney and signed with Republic Records after writing and recording her debut EP called ‘5 Weeks In LA’ during her trip to LA. She’s managed by Troy Carter who has worked with Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor.

Pollstar releases its midterm road report. So far, Elton John is a hot seller edging out Pink grossing $82 million. Other big tours come from rocks that include Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, KISS, and Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

Shawn Mendes clocked in 25 million during his Spring trek through Europe. Post Malone pulled in solid numbers. He racked in $4.3 million from 46,247 tickets at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on May 7-9. He has totaled $36.4 million from 414,782 sold seats.

Riding high from a top 40 hit, Panic At The Disco! grossed $15 million from 252,436 tickets at 29 shows.

Electronic singer and songwriter Flavia releases Damn Life is Good! – it’s reminiscent of Dua Lipa. Her debut video for Til I Die clocked over half a million views in the first month. Before making her debut appearance at SXSW in 2018 and settling in Los Angeles, she spent most of her time writing songs in Italy and Ireland. She’s opened up for Moby and has been performing at festivals.

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Cara Hart released the new song “Glitter”. It has a Katy Perry feel but updated. The latest track was produced by Dwilly (Kiiara, Grey, NOTD). Hart says, ” I went through a really dark moment last year, had to cut out a lot of people, and slept in my car. My life collapsed overnight. I realized I had to take care of myself, and my life. I was ready to give up my dreams and book a flight back home when I got a call from a producer to record some new songs. That moment made me feel like I could take on anything, I was electrified. Glitter represents that moment, I didn’t want the magic to stop, so I didnt.”
Press: Born Music & Cultr
Online: 60k Spotify streams of her debut single Break Habits