Caravan Palace’s label Boss Andrew Bowles has told Music Week how TikTok boosted the group’s touring business.
The French electro swing act are currently on a UK tour, which calls at O2 Academy Brixton on January 30, followed by shows at Manchester Albert Hall and O2 Academy Birmingham.
Caravan Palace went viral with Wonderland, a 2016 track which suddenly became popular on the platform as the soundtrack to a TikTok Challenge. A snippet of the song features on at least 1.2 million fan videos posted on TikTok.
“TikTok has definitely helped the live business,” said Bowles, owner of the Mvka label. “We’re currently running at double the ticket sales of the last tour.”
Bowles acknowledged the importance of the whole streaming ecosystem, including the vital role played by YouTube.
“We were surprised [by TikTok], but YouTube were there first,” he said. “That was the first part of opening the door to the TikTok audience. Without the exposure we had on YouTube, we wouldn’t have got noticed on TikTok.
A viral moment on TikTok is also beneficial for streaming on audio DSPs, added Bowles.
“We’ve got a track that’s getting consumed an awful lot,” he said. “In August 2018, we suddenly saw a huge jump in the Spotify monthly listeners.”
Caravan Palace currently have 1,485,713 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Asked about the financial benefits of a TikTok viral moment, Bowles said there were signs that it could be a useful revenue stream. The short form video platform has just signed a licensing deal with Merlin.
“Our distribution goes through Warner and we have just started seeing income from TikTok,” he said. “It’s very early days and we’ve got plenty of questions ourselves. But there was definitely a massive increase in the Spotify numbers [from TikTok].”
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