From Livinho to Rosalía, how is the factory of early hits, songs that go viral before release

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Artists release previews of songs that are out of the players as a way to increase engagement and measure the success potential of the works. Back to his funk roots after months of immersion in trap, MC Livinho scored one of the biggest hits of the moment almost two weeks before the song was officially released, on June 23rd. At the sound of 130 bpm, the chorus of “Novidade na Área” went viral on TikTok after the singer published 30-second videos, in which the excerpt appears as a soundtrack. As is the factory of early hits, songs that go viral before release. The repercussion was so great that the musician even made a publication denying rumors that the work had been withdrawn from the air. “It’s just being processed to be released by the distributor”, he explained, the day before the full version arrived to the players. In an interview with g1, Livinho says that, if he had not released the preview, the track would probably have taken longer to touch “Tá Ok”, by Kevin, Chris and Dennis DJ, on Spotify and, then, dispute the top of the charts. But more than a strategy for achieving quick success, the publication of previews serves as a thermometer of the potential of future releases How the early hits factory works Luisa Rivas/g1 Likes as indicators of the future shorter, a few seconds of online listening —not always attentive— are enough for listeners to judge songs as good or bad, catchy or forgettable. It is from this logic that one of the best known activities of the American Song House project was born, 4 million followers on TikTok. In it, independent artists have just 30 minutes to compose musical excerpts that are then posted on the networks. The video that goes viral guarantees the composer a contract with a recording company. based on the ratio of views to likes,” says Jacob Fox, co-founder of Song House. “If it starts to gain popularity, all the songwriters get together again the next day to finish it off. The release is the same week.” Fox defines the model as “extremely positive” for artists, because, in his view, it provides “immediate feedback”. According to him, the tactic serves to find out if it is worth investing in music or abandoning it. The new era of music consumption For Andre Morrissy, director of GR6 Music, one of the main funk producers in Brazil, the reasoning behind analyzing the repercussion of small sound fragments is directly linked to the way people consume music today. In the case of funk, for example, artists, producers and record labels of the genre seek to dialogue mainly with youth, since they make up the majority of fans of the style. Hence the need to adapt, says Morrissy. MC Livinho concert during Virada Cultural, at Arena Heliópolis, in the South Zone of SP Danilo M Yoshioka/Futura Press/estadão Content “If I focus only on the release, maybe people won’t even consume the entire content, they’ll be too lazy to listen”, he says. “The preview is very important. With those seconds, the musician can already show what is strong in his art and capture users.” The director cites the case of “Ballena”, by rapper Vulgo FK, to exemplify the level of relevance that a few seconds can cause. With only a preview available, the song hit TikTok and, naturally, made its admirers hunt for it on the players, since many are unaware of the fact that it is just a snippet. Morrissy says that, given the demand, there were those who produced a looping of the sound to make an unofficial upload on the platforms. “We’ve knocked it down at least twice. They want to ride on success and still profit from it.” Has it become the norm in the industry? Increasingly common inside and outside the country, the practice of releasing previews emerged in recent years with the rise of digital music platforms, but gained momentum in 2022. That’s when SounOn, a music marketing and distribution platform on TikTok, started to allow artists to leak snippets of their upcoming work. Rosalía performs at Lollapalooza 2023 in São Paulo Fábio Tito/g1 One of Rosalía’s biggest hits, “Despechá”, for example, took off in Spain shortly after the singer uploaded 35 seconds of the track to the platform. Alongside the Spaniard, artists like Anitta, Ludmilla, SZA, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X and Taylor Swift also join the feature. In addition to serving as a thermometer of fame, the tool also makes it possible for artists to earn money early. Even if the song has not been released, the musician is able to profit from royalties already in the pre-release. And while the work does not reach the platforms, he can change it as many times as he deems necessary. But even though the strategy has become recurrent in the industry, not all artists are open to smiling at the idea. For many, the practice is nothing more than a new imposition of the sector and a risk to artistic freedom. These are arguments similar to those who say they are under pressure to come up with challenges and TikTok dances, as stated by Halsey, Ed Sheeran and Florence and the Machine last year. “What we can never let happen is the art being left behind and focusing only on the numbers”, says Morrissy, from GR6, about the criticism of the practice. He also points out that the musicians’ individual freedom is what should guide the strategies of each release, whether releasing previews or not.

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