How does a song go viral?

One would think that creating a viral song requires years of experience in the music industry, but nowadays, a song can go viral after one simple upload to TikTok.

Viral TikTok songs follow us everywhere. They slowly creep out of the depths of the app to other digital platforms and then chase us into the real world of every restaurant and retail store. It gets annoying, especially when the same 15 to 60 seconds play on repeat. These songs force themselves into the soundscape of Generation Z. Most of these viral songs fall under a broad genre called bedroom pop.

Powfu’s Deathbed, mxmtoon’s Prom Dress and Jack Stauber’s Buttercup are some examples of bedroom pop songs that have gone viral through accompanying TikTok trends. But it’s difficult to tell how these songs are similar, how they all fall under the same genre and what bedroom pop even is.

Bedroom pop is a genre characterized by its quirkiness, which can be achieved through slightly off-tune chords, authentic — often sad — lyrics and unconventional vocals. Anyone can create a bedroom pop song from the comfort of their bedroom if they own a smartphone, laptop and perhaps a guitar. In fact, there are numerous YouTube tutorials that satirize how straightforward the process of creating a successful bedroom pop song can be, even for someone without much experience making music.

With young amateurs carrying the genre, its main selling point is how relatable and accessible it is in the way it is produced and presented to audiences. One example of a successful bedroom pop song is Clairo’s viral music video for her song Pretty Girl.

Photo Courtesy of YouTube.

Clairo wrote this song about how she felt inauthentic in a past relationship. “I felt like I needed to change a lot about who I actually was to be perfect for them instead of just being who I am genuinely,” she said in an interview with Fader.

In the same interview, she explained how the song did not require any professional resources to make. “I kinda was just using the resources around me which were pretty shitty. I used a little keyboard that I had and I was really into ’80s pop music — my mom is obsessed with it — so it kind of inspired me to do something like that,” she commented. Furthermore, the lyrics are quite simple and sound like they could be from a teenager’s diary entry:

“And I could be a pretty girl I'll wear a skirt for you And I could be a pretty girl Shut up when you want me to And I could be a pretty girl Won't ever make you blue And I could be a pretty girl I'll lose myself in you”

The music video — filmed on her laptop webcam — compliments the song’s DIY feel. She mentions how she specifically chose to film it on a day when she felt she looked “gross.” It only took her 30 minutes to make, and now it has almost 71 million views on YouTube and over 200 million plays on Spotify.

This is generally how bedroom pop artists present themselves. They try to come across as authentic, shying away from the formalities of the mainstream music industry. Audiences love it, and so do the social media algorithms.

Sven Gamsky — known by the stage name Still Woozy — introduces himself in his Spotify bio by writing: “Hii my name is Sven. Still Woozy is my solo project, and I record all parts in my garage/studio.” It took me weeks to decide to listen to Still Woozy, and when I finally did, it was because the YouTube algorithm kept shoving his music video for Goodie Bag to the top of my recommended list until I finally decided to click on it. Something similar happened with Boy Pablo’s Everytime, which appeared in everyone’s YouTube recommendations tab around the same time in 2017, and jumped from a few hundred views to hundreds of thousands in just a week.

Now with TikTok, it is even easier for aspiring artists to achieve that same virality. I frequently find videos on the platform of teenagers dancing to their original songs and asking audiences to engage with them.

Photo Courtesy of TikTok.

While it’s amazing that rising musicians don’t have to worry about having enough money and connections to get their work recognized, not everyone is happy with TikTok music culture. Bedroom pop can fall under the trap of sounding repetitive; some fear that audiences are now applauding mediocrity.

However, I think we have a lot to gain from the genre. Bedroom pop is a tool through which aspiring artists are finally breaking out into the music scene. It is a movement that prioritizes accessibility and authenticity above all else, and I believe we can use some of that.

*Listen here for some Bedroom Pop recommendations.