After two years on hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, VidCon — the annual convention for fans, creators, and online platform industry types — returned to the Anaheim Convention Center last week. But it looked a little different than usual. For starters, the ear-piercing shrieks of fans lining up to …
Read More »Adele Has a Secret TikTok Account, and Nine More Things You Learn Hanging With Her
In Rolling Stone‘s December 2021 cover story, Adele opens up about the emotional journey she’s been on since 2019. That year, not only did she begin writing her highly-anticipated fourth album, 30, but she also saw a series of major upheavals in her life, like the end of her relationship …
Read More »TikTok Is Becoming a Vector of Election Violence Rumors
In the lead-up to Election Night, most coverage has focused on how platforms like Facebook and Twitter are working to prevent election-related misinformation and disinformation, in an effort to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2016. One platform, however, has largely avoided scrutiny, despite already serving as host to …
Read More »TikTok Is Giving a Niche Indie Band's 2008 Music Millions of New Streams
Indie band Mother Mother formed in 2005, but it just made an entrance on Rolling Stone’sArtists 500 Chartlast week. The Vancouver-based group also debuted at Number 11 on September’s Breakthrough 25 Chart, which monitors the fastest-rising artists each month. Even though Mother Mother hasn’t released new music in two years, …
Read More »WhoHeem's 'Lets Link' Debuts on the RS 100 After Exploding on TikTok
WhoHeem is the latest artist to go from unknown to ubiquitous in an astonishingly short time period thanks in part to the widespread adoption of his song “Lets Link” on TikTok. This trajectory has become increasingly common in the music industry over the last 20 months, helping Sub Urban, Benee, …
Read More »TikTok Proved It Can Make Hits — Its Next Test Is Creating Stars
Earlier this year, the app TikTok — which allows users to create short video clips set to music — helped shotgun Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” into the pop stratosphere. That accomplishment alone is cause for the app’s creators to celebrate. But that is just one way that TikTok …
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