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‘A lot of chaos, quickly’: panic grips US music industry as ‘kingmaker’ TikTok faces ban

Guardian
Summary
Nutrition label

72% Informative

Since its debut in 2017 , TikTok has become a star-making machine.

The app has the power to make rising artists into A-listers and propel their ascent to the top of the charts.

Artists and record labels see TikTok as the closest thing that the fragmented music industry has to a kingmaker today , making it tough to imagine a future without it.

A potential US ban is “going to cause a lot of chaos quickly”, says Geoff Halliday , vice-president of marketing at Downtown Artist & Label Services .

It is possible that a US ban would shift what listeners are served on Spotify in places where TikTok will still be available, such as in the UK .

VR Score

62

Informative language

53

Neutral language

53

Article tone

semi-formal

Language

English

Language complexity

46

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

medium-lived

External references

18

https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/banning-tiktok-is-unconstitutional-the-supreme-court-must-step-inhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/03/australian-tiktok-creators-could-dump-app-after-month-long-test-removed-sound-from-videoshttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jan/16/rednote-tiktok-social-media-chinahttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/11/pinkpantheress-boys-liar-ice-spice-heaven-knows-interviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/14/tiktok-ban-rednote-apphttps://www.billboard.com/pro/doja-cat-nicki-minaj-say-so-number-one/https://www.billboard.com/pro/megan-thee-stallion-savage-challenge-hot-100-rb-hip-hop-songs/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/27/fight-for-your-right-to-yeehaw-lil-nas-x-and-countrys-race-problemhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/17/kate-bush-uk-no-1-running-up-that-hill#:~:text=%E2%80%9CRunning%20Up%20That%20Hill%20has,popularity%20over%20an%20extended%20period.%E2%80%9Dhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/12/12/so-you-want-to-be-a-tiktok-starhttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/tiktokhttps://www.billboard.com/pro/fleetwood-mac-dreams-streams-sales-bump-tiktok-clip/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/03/do-something-weird-that-works-on-tiktok-how-to-write-a-pop-smash-in-2020https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/10/us-supreme-court-tiktok-ban-sale-billhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/joebidenhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/tiktok-democratic-social-platform-us-ban-silicon-valley-chinese-apphttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/17/supreme-court-tiktok-banhttps://www.billboard.com/music/country/bailey-zimmerman-country-power-players-rookie-of-the-year-interview-1235344097/

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