2024's Most Viral Musicians All Do These 3 Things

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So many people love to yap on and on about how musicians actually blow up, but they're really just echoing outdated ideas that no longer work because they're trying to gain clout in views. 

So that's why I decided last year to start my $5 a month members-only feed, where I go back and look at exactly what the viral artist members suggest. I dissect how they blew up in the smart things that got them from having practically no fans to millions of people hearing their music. 

Over the past year, I've conducted real-time studies of artists achieving viral success on Spotify's Viral 50 chart—the key metric for songs driving video creation and streaming engagement. While my previous research often examined artists after their breakthrough moments, this weekly analysis revealed more detailed insights into how artists build momentum.

These findings come from studying breakout artists including Chappell Roan, South Arcade, Tommy Richman, Pluko, Internet Girl, MkGee, Good Neighbors, Dasha, Artemas, Lay Bankz, Durie, Hemlock Springs, Jersey, bbno$, Dave Bluntz, Royel Otis, The Hellp, Frost Children, Snow Strippers, Sophie Powers, The Home Team, RJ Pasin, Hot Mulligan, Vana, Gigi Perez, Magdalena Bay, Lil Texas, Junior Varsity, Ray Bull, NXCRE, Aziya, La Russell, and Sam Austin.

(#1) Being Recognizable in the FYP Era

In today's social media landscape, we see dramatically more faces each day than we did just a few years ago through these apps. This makes faces blur together and harder to recognize. This challenge is even greater since some people are more face blind than others, and science shows people often have trouble recognizing the faces of those outside their own race.

The musicians who went most viral understand this and deliberately make themselves more recognizable. This year's most viral artist, Chappell Roan, has done a lot to make herself stand out amongst other pop artists. Notably, when she wasn't doing this, her career wasn't performing as well.

MkGee creates recognition through his shadowy look with his guitar constantly in hand, making him distinct from countless other guitar bands. RJ Pasin maintains the same angle and prompts on social media for his instrumental riffs, which helps him go viral because people recognize him.

bbno$ may look like every white boy you don't want to leave your drink alone with, but seeing him make the same facial expressions regularly helps people recognize “oh, it's that guy and he doesn't seem so bad." Vana changes her hair color and look often, but maintains consistency for each promotion period.

Sustaining and Adapting Through Recognition

Doing a minimum of three points of recognizable really helps get you more follows and people watching your videos because they recognize you. Take me for example - I don't wear this hat out of the house, but I have three of them and have worn it in 95% of my videos for five years. Only with the same glasses and a band shirt. I have a very weird voice, which helps. And of course, a blue microphone and a green screen. So when you're scrolling, you stop and think "oh, it's that white guy with the weird voice who gives really good music marketing advice" rather than those other dudes they may mistake me for.

It can be a lot of things that make you recognizable - makeup, unique hair like Jersey, a unique necklace, tattoos like Vana has under her collarbone, or even just an outfit you're always wearing like Dave Bluntz. Many things hint that it's you, and when viewers remember they liked your past content, that recognition triggers them to follow and stick around, building a real relationship with you.

But it's not just you as a person. Your background that you created most of the time can also help. Look at South Arcade, who has a unique looking practice space and does similar camera angles. Pluko has one of the most unique spaces you'll see with those synths and grass carpet. And of course, they do another recognizable trait of putting those graphics on the screen. It could also be the filters you use in film grade - Tommy Richman rode the VCR filter all the way to number two on the Billboard charts. RJ Pasin, Vana, Pluko and Jersey all have recognizable instruments they create with regularly where you're going to be reminded it's that creator you saw using them before.

The more you make it so someone stops and says "Oh hey, that's so hype, I remember they made that other video I liked," the more likely you are to get followed since they want to see what you make next and they recognize who you are. Remember, it might be weeks or months between your videos appearing in their FYP. But if you're recognizable and that recognition clicks, you've likely started a lasting fan relationship.

(#2) Crafting a Memorable Bio

The next thing these viral artists have in common is when people recognize them and click their profile, they have a way of telling the audience who they are that's short and leaves an impact, easy to understand for anyone who comes across it. A lot of you underestimate this and just throw up your hands and think you can skip it. But these artists all tell an audience why they should care and often give the audience an easy way to tell their friends about them. Since as we've seen from my music listening survey, word of mouth, even in a short-form video world, is still the most popular way listeners learn about the music they love, we need to give the people who come across you something to tell their friends about.

But what does that look like? Well perhaps the most perfect bio line I've seen is Magdalena Bay's tagline "Synth Pop Straight From The Simulation" and it sits right atop their bio, which immediately tells people if this is for them. And if you don't understand what that means, it probably means Mag Bay is not for you. It's an instant vibe check. South Arcade's "Y2K Core" creates curiosity about what that would sound like, and they have tons of videos that talk about their sound crossing between Avril Lavigne and Korn or No Doubt and other heavy groups so you can get the vibe and easily understand what they do. The Home Team describes themselves as "Seattle heavypop," inviting curiosity if that's something you'd be into. Whereas Gigi Perez has this pinned video that talks about how she's writing about her sister who died, which is a lot of the content of her songs and what she makes videos about, so if you're on your sad girl, well she's probably for you.

Knowing how to position yourself and develop your artist identity is one of the main things I teach on my members feed every week. For just $5 a month, you get access to over 6 hours of new videos monthly plus my entire back catalog of more than 60 videos. I cover everything from the latest social media trends to genre-specific strategies for growing your audience, plus deep dives into how today's biggest artists went from zero fans to massive success. I also do monthly listening sessions where I review music submitted by members, and I answer all your questions about music promotion. Want to learn more about any of the artists we discussed? We go much deeper on all of them in the member videos.

I recently made a video about how in a For You Page world, you need to be able to quickly connect with strangers. How fast someone understands who you are can be the difference between them forgetting you and becoming a real fan. When people quickly get what you're about, they follow you. When they follow you, they think about you and tell their friends about you. So many of you are wondering why you're stuck and not growing - well, this bio issue is something I see with almost everyone who calls in for consulting.

(#3) SUSTAINING AND ADAPTING

Learn the Language

Most of these viral artists share another key trait - they're not new to this game and they consistently sustain their promotion efforts. From spending time on these apps, they've developed a keen eye for attention-grabbing content, learning what I call the language of TikTok (which applies to all short video platforms like Reels and Shorts). This language includes knowing how to create compelling first frames that keep viewers watching, understanding what video quality drives views, and most importantly, how to improve on ideas that gain traction. When these artists see a video format working, they don't just repeat it - they make it better each time.

This is where so many of you fall short. You'll post a video, and if it doesn't perform well immediately, you abandon the idea entirely. But these successful artists don't get discouraged by videos that underperform. Instead of giving up on an idea they believe in, they keep refining and trying again until it hits.

Be Flexible

Flexibility is another crucial factor. Look at South Arcade, Dasha and Lay Bankz - they were promoting new songs but pivoted immediately when older tracks started going viral. Dave Bluntz was pushing multiple songs when he found his viral moment. Success comes from staying alert to what's happening on the platform and responding to what resonates with fans.

Video Reply to Comments

These artists are constantly engaging through video replies to fans - being what I call reactive. They pay attention to what others are doing, adapt those ideas with their own spin, and tune into fan conversations. They keep these conversations going with viral videos that give people more ways to engage with the trending topics. And importantly, they don't get hung up on how different platforms treat them - they stay focused on creating and connecting.

Understanding the Algo

Success on social platforms isn't just about video quality - it's about which viewers the algorithm chooses to test your content on. Look at any of these viral artists and you'll notice a pattern: their videos rarely perform equally well across platforms. A video might explode on Instagram Reels, completely flop on TikTok, and get moderate views on YouTube Shorts. It's extremely rare to see huge numbers across even two platforms, let alone all three.

This is exactly why you can't take it personally when videos don't perform. It's all about whether the algorithm's test audience connects with your content. If those initial viewers respond well, the algorithm pushes it further. But here's the challenge - often your videos are being tested on people who simply aren't going to be interested in your content because you haven't built that core audience yet. This initial audience match is what determines whether your video spreads or stays stuck.