Compelled TikTok creators? The ambivalent affordances of the short video app for Filipino musicians

Abstract

This study is concerned with the incorporation of TikTok by Filipino musicians in their performances, promotion strategies, and other career-related endeavors. As the music artists are compelled, whether consciously or otherwise, to adhere to the logics of the platform, we critically evaluate its implications on their experiences as creative workers. As revealed, the use of TikTok by Filipino musicians fosters the construction of a new cultural logic and format that enhances music content and narratives as they engage in novel creative pursuits as well as participate in nascent forms of audience relations. Yet the prevalence of TikTok use within the music industry also engenders a new range of obligations that reinforce existing pressures on musicians. This study sheds light on the ambivalent role of TikTok as a platform that could potentially liberate and amplify independent and creative cultural production while also generating new sources of tension for creative workers.