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Where TikTok Sounds Come From & How To Use Them

Anyone who uses social media platforms such as TikTok can benefit from all the functionality available to them when they make their latest post. It doesn’t matter if it’s a social media influencer or just someone posting randomly; the tools available benefit everyone on the social platform.
One of these features is known as TikTok sounds. But how do you use sounds on TikTok, and where do the TikTok sounds originate from?

Karina Gandola

Published on May 7, 2022

TikTok has the ability to make your post more fun and exciting by adding in awesome sounds. Although these sounds are quite a bit of fun, you may be wondering where they came from and how to use them.

WHAT ARE TIKTOK SOUNDS?

Before looking into how to add sound to TikTok or make a sound on TikTok, it’s essential to fully understand what TikTok Sounds are. Instead of using real audio when posting a TikTok video, you’re able to pick from a pre-recorded sound that will make the video more professional and help it to go viral by selecting trending popular songs for any videos you’re making.

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WHERE DO TIKTOK SOUNDS COME FROM?

There are three main locations to get TikTok sounds: TikTok Sound Library, Original Sounds, and the For You Page.

TikTok Sound Library

The first, TikTok Sound Library, is a consistent and easy location directly in the app . Here you’ll find a selection of pre-approved sounds and music snippets to easily add to your videos.

Keep in mind that the Sound Library is frequently changing with the current trends and tastes of TikTok users, but so are TikTok videos! It’s an ideal place to start when creating initial TikTok videos because it has a very friendly user interface and is what everyone else is currently using.

You can easily search for songs and even look for trending sounds giving your TikTok video its best chance to become viral.

Original Sounds

For those interested in how to make a sound on TikTok, there’s Original Sounds. This is where the true power of TikTok comes out. It can be anything that’s NOT from the TikTok sounds library and possibly even a mashup of different songs, with added background noise and voice overs. You can play music in the background, but if it becomes different, TikTok will track it as an Original Sound. That means you can piggyback off existing sounds and music and make your own version of it.

This is also an ideal space for up-and-coming musicians to show off their talent. Original Sounds are easily shareable with the entire TikTok community. The best part? It can also become a trending TikTok sound and eventually become viral throughout the platform. We’ll discuss in this article exactly how a creator is able to develop Original Sounds that can help with content creation.

TikTok For You Page

Another place where TikTok sounds come from is the TikTok For You Page, which sometimes comes across as #FYP. This is where you are scrolling as a user through TikTok and want to see what’s trending immediately; you can save that song to use later.

This answers the question of how to use sounds on TikTok when you’re watching a video with sounds you love but don’t want to look at the TikTok Sounds Library or make your own Original Sound in TikTok.

HOW TO USE TIKTOK SOUNDS

Now that we’ve covered the origin of TikTok sounds, it’s time to learn how to use them. Regardless of what the source will be, the way to add TikTok sounds is uniform throughout.

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Adding TikTok sound to an existing video

You don’t need to use the TikTok platform to be able to share videos. You can use existing videos stored on your smartphone. You simply take a different route in how to add sound to TikTok videos that have been uploaded.

Step 1:

In both places, the journey begins by hitting that plus button on the bottom center of the screen. It will immediately switch to your camera, but you aren’t required to record a video. Instead, you will upload a pre-recorded one.

Step 2:

Look towards the right of the record button, and you’ll see an “upload” button. Click that button, and it will take you to your gallery of videos to upload. Note: you can also upload photos and make a photo montage instead of a video.

Step 3:

Once you’ve uploaded the video, you’ll need to find the sound button. In this case, it’ll be on the bottom left corner of the screen with a musical note next to it. Tap on that.

Step 4:

Browse the TikTok Sound Library, which also is set to be presented with the latest and most viral-inducing hits. You can also select the “For Your Page” videos you’ve saved, or you can start recording and consider making Original Sounds. Choose a sound and share the post.

Adding TikTok sound to new videos

New videos are those that you’re going to create on the TikTok platform itself directly. This is a much more intuitive and native process to add TikTok sounds to these videos and it’s relatively easy.

Step 1:

Again, we start by tapping the + sign at the bottom of your screen to begin a new video. Don’t start the video quite yet.

Step 2:

Look at the top of your screen you will see a music note and the word ‘Sounds’. Tap on the sounds button. Here you’ll be able to see all the available options when it comes to the music you want to select. This will include the latest trending videos, any original sounds you’ve created, and of course the “For Your Page” sounds that are saved for future usage.

Step 3:

Once you’re done looking for the TikTok sound you want to use, simply select it, and you’re all set when it comes to sound!

Step 4:

Start your recording, and since you’ve already selected your TikTok sound from the sound library, it will start to play in sync with your video. So enjoy creating fresh new content!

HOW TO CREATE AN ORIGINAL TIKTOK SOUND

If you’re thinking of creating your own authentic and original TikTok sounds, it’s very similar to the steps outlined above, but this time you’re not selecting any predefined music.

Instead, you start the same way by hitting the plus button at the bottom and then just start recording the video! You will not need to tap sounds, whether it is on the top for new videos or the bottom left for videos or images that are uploaded manually, as the sound will be coming from the video recording itself.

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Of course, make sure to set up the music in the background that you want the video to also capture, and the TikTok platform will automatically convert the audio to an original sound.

You can save the audio for later use, and as your video starts to show up on other feeds, be prepared for them to use the sound as well. This is how going viral begins and is a great way to get exposure.

TOPMOST USED TIKTOK SOUNDS

TikTok sounds change rapidly as users gravitate to new trending music. The top five most-used TikTok tracks for TikTok trending videos in June 2022 were:

Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush
First Class by Jack Harlow
As It Was by Harry Styles
Jiggle Jiggle by Duke & Jones
About Damn Time by Lizzo

Source: sportskeeda

If you’re looking for live trending TikTok sounds of the week, then you can simply follow this tracker here that is updated frequently to help you pick what everyone else is currently using. TikTok itself will also help categorize everything from popular music in general to TikTok sounds that are generating popularity specifically within the platform.

FINAL THOUGHTS

TikTok is built to constantly assist videos, trends, and sounds go viral. It’s also built to generate content on the fly and to make it more professional with the use of the TikTok Sounds Library.

Keep in mind that TikTok is constantly changing with what is popular creating the need to change your sound and the content flows on a monthly basis. This can be too fast for some, but when you’re looking for maximum exposure for content, TikTok is the way to go.

Also, unlike other types of platforms, TikTok has algorithms in the background to try to make your videos as viral as possible. So if you’re working with trending TikTok sounds, there’s a strong possibility it will be viewed by a significantly larger population of users quickly. Other platforms have tracking and hashtags, but the algorithm doesn’t work the same in the TikTok platform.