)
)
TikTok has long been a launchpad for global hits, with songs like Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road or CKay’s Love Nwantiti turning into viral anthems after millions of users danced, lip-synced, and remixed them.
Now, TikTok has gone a step further with a feature called Work with Artists, which can be found on the TikTok app creator studio.
The tool is designed to connect musicians directly with content creators, giving artists more control over how their songs spread while rewarding creators for their creativity.
"African creators on TikTok have been rewarded for their creativity contrary to popular belief. We have a number of tools that our Community across the continent can currently benefit from,” says Boniswa Sidwaba, Head of Content Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa.
What Is Work With Artists?
Work with Artists is TikTok’s in-app campaign system, where musicians can invite creators to use their music in videos.
Unlike traditional influencer deals, the feature sits inside TikTok itself, eliminating the need for back-and-forth negotiations.
Artists can post a campaign for a track they want to promote, and TikTok makes it visible to a pool of eligible creators.
Those creators take on “tasks”, usually making a video using the track, and are rewarded based on how well their content performs in terms of views, likes, and engagement.
How It Works
The mechanics of Work with Artists can be broken down into three parts:
Artist Campaign Setup
Artists, labels, or their managers set up a campaign. They decide the budget, the creative brief, and the goals — for example, boosting streams, building anticipation for a release, or sparking a viral dance challenge.
Creator Selection
Creators see the available campaigns in their dashboard. They choose the song they want to work with and create a video following the brief. Unlike traditional influencer marketing, this is open to many creators at once, not just a few handpicked names.Performance And Rewards
Once videos are posted, TikTok’s algorithm tracks engagement. Creators are paid according to performance, with top videos often earning higher payouts. This ensures artists get better value for their money, and creators are incentivised to make genuinely engaging content.
)
)
)
)
Benefits For Artists
For musicians, the feature solves a long-standing challenge: how to make a song cut through the noise on TikTok.
Wider Reach: Instead of chasing a single big influencer, artists can tap into thousands of smaller creators who often have more authentic relationships with their audiences.
Organic Promotion: Videos come across as natural TikTok content, not ads, which makes them more likely to go viral.
Data-Driven: Artists can see which creators and content styles actually drive engagement, helping them refine marketing strategies.
This model particularly benefits emerging artists. For instance, a musician in Nairobi could set a modest campaign budget and still get dozens of videos made with their track, something that would have been out of reach in traditional PR campaigns.
TikTok Creator Studio
Benefits For Creators
For creators, Work with Artists formalises something they have already been doing: helping songs blow up.
Monetisation: Instead of hoping a brand notices them, creators can now directly earn from participating in campaigns.
Discovery: They get early access to tracks before they trend, positioning them as tastemakers.
Community Building: Joining a campaign around a new song often sparks micro-communities, like dance challenges or memes, which in turn boost creator visibility.
Who Can Join?
TikTok has already rolled out this feature in Africa.
Creators need to meet eligibility criteria, which include being 18 years of age and having more than 1,000 followers.
TikTok’s Work with Artists is not just another feature. It is a reshaping of how music travels in the digital age.
By connecting creators with musicians in a structured, reward-driven way, the app ensures songs don’t just get released, they get lived, danced to, and shared by millions.
For artists, it means new pathways to stardom. For creators, it means turning creativity into income.
And for the music industry, it signals a future where the next global hit could come from anywhere, powered by TikTok’s endless scroll.