A new study from MIDiA Research shows that while viral success on social media platforms can generate millions of streams for individual songs, it rarely translates into long-term artist fandom. The report titled “All Eyes, No Ears: Why Virality is Not Building Fandom” analyzes how music discovery on social platforms affects listener behavior across the streaming ecosystem.
Discovery Is Highly Fragmented
Music discovery remains widely distributed across multiple platforms, with YouTube leading at 52% of consumers discovering music there, followed by streaming services (40%) and TikTok (37%). Seven different discovery sources have a penetration rate of more than 10% each, demonstrating a complex and interconnected discovery ecosystem.
“There is no single source of discovery that dominates, reflecting the complex and intertwined lives that consumers lead,” the report states.
Demographics play a dominant role in discovery preferences. While younger audiences tend to skew toward TikTok and older audiences toward radio, the report cautions that only 12% of consumers, specifically 16-24-year-olds, discover music on TikTok. This means the industry’s focus on this segment “essentially neglects 88% of the population.”
The Broken Funnel
The research reveals a clear breakdown in the assumed funnel from social media virality to streaming to fandom. Almost half of consumers (48%) did not stream music they heard on social media in the last month, and fewer than a third became fans of the artists.
This issue is especially clear among younger consumers. The report finds that 16-24-year-olds are less likely than 25-34-year-olds to take almost every step through the funnel, from looking up who performed a song to saving it on streaming platforms to exploring more of an artist’s music.
“Song-to-artist discovery is the weak link,” according to the researchers. “Of 16-24s who discovered new artists they loved in the past year, only 19% went on to listen to more music from that artist, a difference of -5% compared to 25-34s.”
TikTok: Following, Not Listening
Perhaps most concerning for the music industry, the research indicates TikTok users who discover artists are more interested in following their social content than streaming their music.
After discovering a new artist, consumers who primarily discover music on TikTok are significantly more likely to follow that artist on TikTok (35%) than to listen to more of that artist’s music (23%). This pattern is unique to TikTok – consumers who discover artists on YouTube and streaming services are more likely to listen to more music than follow social accounts.
The conversion from social following to streaming is particularly weak on TikTok. Of the 20% of consumers who followed artists on TikTok after discovering them, only 26% listened to more of that artist’s music. For other social platforms, 45% of followers went on to explore more music from the artists they discovered.
“The pressure for artists to accrue TikTok followers may actually be detrimental to their streaming income – the more artists post on TikTok, the less their followers feel the need to listen to their music off-platform,” the report suggests.
Social Media Cannibalizes Streaming
The study indicates that social media is becoming a consumption end-point rather than a discovery funnel leading to streaming platforms. The researchers found that 28% of 16-24-year-olds say their biggest barrier to streaming music from social media is that they “already hear it enough there.”
The issue is compounded by platform design. On social media, 18% of consumers do not want to leave their feed when they hear new music, and 33% have forgotten what the music was or did not see the song’s name by the time they might consider streaming it.
“The ‘funnel’ from social to streaming is not only breaking, but actively driving activity back to the social platforms, often in competition with streaming,” the report states. “Younger audiences in particular see music as an intrinsic and satisfying part of their social experience; following it elsewhere can seem unnecessary.”
First Impressions Matter
The research suggests that discovery is not a funnel, but a cycle shaped by first impressions. When consumers first experience music as a clip or hook on social media, they tend to seek out that same experience again, staying within platforms where they can experience that same hook.
“If the cycle begins with attention to the full song and artist, subsequent exposure through social media clips sends audiences back to listen again, deepening engagement with each pass,” the researchers write. “However, if the cycle begins with a clip or a snippet of a song, then the itch is for returning to the moment – the snippet – not the song or the artist.”
Regional Variations
The report includes case studies from multiple countries, revealing significant regional differences:
In Mexico and Indonesia, TikTok is heavily used for discovery; however, those who discover music on TikTok are less likely than the average user to stream or explore more of an artist’s music.
France views TikTok as the primary source of discovery, yet it has the poorest artist fandom conversion rate, with only 12% of TikTok-preferring users becoming fans of the artists they discover.
The UK shows stronger streaming conversion from TikTok (36% of users spending more time streaming because of TikTok), but fan behavior still largely remains on the platform.
Japan has low TikTok adoption (34% weekly users), and TikTok usage comes at the expense of YouTube, which remains the dominant platform.
The U.S. has one of the lowest rates of TikTok as a favorite discovery source (16%), but higher rates of saving songs to playlists.
Key Takeaways
The report suggests that the music industry is at a pivotal moment in its approach to social platforms – viewing them as marketing tools, consumption platforms, or both. For labels, this will determine marketing investment, objectives, and licensing models.
“Posting relentlessly to social media reduces the need for fans to listen and engage off-platform,” the researchers advise. “Instead of aiming to reach as many people as possible, focus on reaching the biggest fans on the platforms that are more aligned with your scene, but more effective at driving listenership and fandom.”
For artists, the report emphasizes the importance of having clarity on identity and narrative to determine the best channels for expression. It recommends focusing broader marketing efforts on spaces where listening to music is a natural next step to discovery (streaming and YouTube) rather than feed-based platforms where migration causes friction.
The research concludes that viral success, while beneficial for individual songs, often fails to translate into sustainable artist careers. It suggests that the industry must reconsider its approach to social media marketing to build true artist fandom rather than short-lived track virality.
Image credit: MIDiA Research Get the full report here
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
A new study from MIDiA Research shows that while viral success on social media platforms can generate millions of streams for individual songs, it rarely translates into long-term artist fandom. The report titled “All Eyes, No Ears: Why Virality is Not Building Fandom” analyzes how music discovery on social platforms affects listener behavior across the streaming ecosystem.
Discovery Is Highly Fragmented
Music discovery remains widely distributed across multiple platforms, with YouTube leading at 52% of consumers discovering music there, followed by streaming services (40%) and TikTok (37%). Seven different discovery sources have a penetration rate of more than 10% each, demonstrating a complex and interconnected discovery ecosystem.
“There is no single source of discovery that dominates, reflecting the complex and intertwined lives that consumers lead,” the report states.
Demographics play a dominant role in discovery preferences. While younger audiences tend to skew toward TikTok and older audiences toward radio, the report cautions that only 12% of consumers, specifically 16-24-year-olds, discover music on TikTok. This means the industry’s focus on this segment “essentially neglects 88% of the population.”
The Broken Funnel
The research reveals a clear breakdown in the assumed funnel from social media virality to streaming to fandom. Almost half of consumers (48%) did not stream music they heard on social media in the last month, and fewer than a third became fans of the artists.
This issue is especially clear among younger consumers. The report finds that 16-24-year-olds are less likely than 25-34-year-olds to take almost every step through the funnel, from looking up who performed a song to saving it on streaming platforms to exploring more of an artist’s music.
“Song-to-artist discovery is the weak link,” according to the researchers. “Of 16-24s who discovered new artists they loved in the past year, only 19% went on to listen to more music from that artist, a difference of -5% compared to 25-34s.”
TikTok: Following, Not Listening
Perhaps most concerning for the music industry, the research indicates TikTok users who discover artists are more interested in following their social content than streaming their music.
After discovering a new artist, consumers who primarily discover music on TikTok are significantly more likely to follow that artist on TikTok (35%) than to listen to more of that artist’s music (23%). This pattern is unique to TikTok – consumers who discover artists on YouTube and streaming services are more likely to listen to more music than follow social accounts.
The conversion from social following to streaming is particularly weak on TikTok. Of the 20% of consumers who followed artists on TikTok after discovering them, only 26% listened to more of that artist’s music. For other social platforms, 45% of followers went on to explore more music from the artists they discovered.
“The pressure for artists to accrue TikTok followers may actually be detrimental to their streaming income – the more artists post on TikTok, the less their followers feel the need to listen to their music off-platform,” the report suggests.
Social Media Cannibalizes Streaming
The study indicates that social media is becoming a consumption end-point rather than a discovery funnel leading to streaming platforms. The researchers found that 28% of 16-24-year-olds say their biggest barrier to streaming music from social media is that they “already hear it enough there.”
The issue is compounded by platform design. On social media, 18% of consumers do not want to leave their feed when they hear new music, and 33% have forgotten what the music was or did not see the song’s name by the time they might consider streaming it.
“The ‘funnel’ from social to streaming is not only breaking, but actively driving activity back to the social platforms, often in competition with streaming,” the report states. “Younger audiences in particular see music as an intrinsic and satisfying part of their social experience; following it elsewhere can seem unnecessary.”
First Impressions Matter
The research suggests that discovery is not a funnel, but a cycle shaped by first impressions. When consumers first experience music as a clip or hook on social media, they tend to seek out that same experience again, staying within platforms where they can experience that same hook.
“If the cycle begins with attention to the full song and artist, subsequent exposure through social media clips sends audiences back to listen again, deepening engagement with each pass,” the researchers write. “However, if the cycle begins with a clip or a snippet of a song, then the itch is for returning to the moment – the snippet – not the song or the artist.”
Regional Variations
The report includes case studies from multiple countries, revealing significant regional differences:
Key Takeaways
The report suggests that the music industry is at a pivotal moment in its approach to social platforms – viewing them as marketing tools, consumption platforms, or both. For labels, this will determine marketing investment, objectives, and licensing models.
“Posting relentlessly to social media reduces the need for fans to listen and engage off-platform,” the researchers advise. “Instead of aiming to reach as many people as possible, focus on reaching the biggest fans on the platforms that are more aligned with your scene, but more effective at driving listenership and fandom.”
For artists, the report emphasizes the importance of having clarity on identity and narrative to determine the best channels for expression. It recommends focusing broader marketing efforts on spaces where listening to music is a natural next step to discovery (streaming and YouTube) rather than feed-based platforms where migration causes friction.
The research concludes that viral success, while beneficial for individual songs, often fails to translate into sustainable artist careers. It suggests that the industry must reconsider its approach to social media marketing to build true artist fandom rather than short-lived track virality.
Image credit: MIDiA Research
Get the full report here
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