TikTok and Residual Economics

If you have yet to download TikTok and binge watch these videos for hours, you are one of the few left. This app has brought in over a billion users since its release in September of 2017. What’s notable about TikTok is that users are encouraged to copy audio made by other creators and add their own spin on it to bring along a new purpose. Often, creators even use clips of older songs for their audio. Unlike Youtubers who avoid any background music at all in fear of copyright claims, TikTok creators indulge in borrowing music or audio recordings from any source available. The idea of doing so correlates with Jenkin’s idea of residual media and economic gain from it. Meaning, when creators choose to upload a video with the background audio as a clip of an older song, they revive its relevance while simultaneously changing its purpose to fit their message. A residual economy thrives off of this type of salvaging, one that finds value in trends, songs, and products that have lost their usefulness or popularity overtime and recirculates the item. The economic gain that is acquired from doing so usually comes in the form of virality and thousands of shares, but also hands the artists another paycheck.

A prime example from TikTok is Mariah Carey’s song “Obsessed”. Since its release in 2003, the popularity and value of this song has diminished over the years to hardly anything. However, Teens on TikTok have brought its value back to life in the form of choreography, making a viral trend called the “Why You So Obsessed With Me Dance”. Now, scrolling thought the For You page, it requires only a few swipes to find a video of someone dancing to this tune. There are even tutorials on Youtube teaching the dance, displaying how what used to be a top 20 hit has become a choreographed fad for teenagers to recreate and share. To this generation, this song may now be forever linked to a TikTok challenge rather than a pop hit that was blasted on the way to work. That’s another characteristic of residual economics! These objects gain value in very different ways depending on the audience it is introduced to and in what context.

Matthew Wilder’s hit “Break My Stride” from 1983 also endured the same over-night revival via TikTok. Without this trend, the song has very little value to us today and is not very recognizable to Millennials or Gen Z kids. Thanks to TikTok, the song has received plenty of attention from texting lyrics pranks to comedy skits. In CNN’s interview with Matthew Wilder, he even commented that “Now with the advent of TikTok, it’s like having a hit record all over again with a whole new generation”. It has even been reported that “Once a song goes viral on TikTok, it sees huge spikes on other streaming services such as Spotify or Youtube”. This pulls in the factor of economic gain. By leading users down the rabbit hole of searching lyrics, finding the title, and streaming the song, a 15-second video post has become a medium for sharing and discovering music, ultimately, bringing in more income to artists whose work was otherwise outdated.

The power of residual economics and TikTok’s influence is unquestionable. Although, this recirculation of content to a new audience also begs the question of whether we are becoming more original or simply repetitive on social media, specifically our personal accounts. For example, posting a boomerang of a record player spinning a vinyl brings this ancient product back to life with the implicit message of “I have a sophisticated personality, you should be more like me”. This object, at one point, was extremely trendy and then slopped into some old boxy thing your grandma might own. By posting this, you are bringing back some of its value and attempting to reincorporate it into today’s culture as something that is, once again, cool. Posting a picture of an outfit including a denim jacket and scrunchies certainly follows the same guidelines. Although this fashion strays from today’s norms, it does not qualify as original whatsoever. Check any ‘90’s magazine! It seems that being original on social media is becoming harder and harder as more content is being produced daily.

What came first, the chicken or the egg? My last point that I would like to ponder is whether our taste in music, fashion, etc. is what shapes trends (and is later brought back to life) through corporations viewing feedback or if our taste is a product of what trends already exist (what they show us)? Either way, we individually contribute to the cycle of residual economics subconsciously and because it is a cycle, it will never end. What from today’s culture do you see being revived in the future?