Nailed it.
These days it seems like the fastest way to get a record deal in Nashville is to have something go viral on TikTok.
I’m not going to name names (as bad as I want to) but there are no shortage of artists who have landed major record deals based solely on their TikTok success.
Never mind that these people have never played a show. Never mind that they know nothing about putting together a setlist or sequencing an album. Hell, it seems like whether they can even sing is an afterthought that’s become less important than whether they can get views on TikTok.
It’s absurd.
And Craig Campbell posted – ironically, a TikTok – perfectly pointing out just how absurd it is.
The video depicts a “reenactment” that’s “based on a real conversation with a Nashville major label record executive.”
And it goes about how you’d expect:
“We just signed seven new TikTok artists.”
“Anything online, maybe some videos, I could check him out?”
“No there’s not much online. Matter of fact there’s not anything online. He’s never done a show.”
“And y’all signed him to a record deal?”
“Full blown record deal. And you wouldn’t believe how much money we gave him as a signing bonus.”
“You got any music, anything recorded, that you can send over?”
“Man I’d love to play some music but he’s been taking voice lessons for the past year. So as soon as we get it dialed in we’ll have some music for you to listen to.”
“Voice lessons? Y’all signed him to a record deal, right? Like, you signed him because he was a good singer, right?”
“Blew up on TikTok because he was filming himself on the toilet.”
Obviously I’ve never been in the room for these decisions, but this is exactly how I picture them going.
@craigcampbellmusic The reenactment video you are about to watch is based on a real conversation with a Nashville major label record executive. #nashville #recordlabel ♬ original sound – Craig Campbell
Craig Campbell is himself a hell of a country singer, and somebody I’ve always thought should have been way bigger than he is.
His song “Outskirts of Heaven” is as close to a perfect country song as you’re going to get.
And in the past couple of years he’s released two killer albums of “Lost Files,” songs that he recorded during his time with a record label that he’s now released on his own.
And for my money, these are better than anything we’ve got from any of these TikTok artists.
