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- The Echo Vol. 1 — Virality Isn’t Magic, It’s Structure
The Echo Vol. 1 — Virality Isn’t Magic, It’s Structure
This weeks breakdown of the trends, tactics, and timing behind music marketing that works.
HOW’S IT GOING MUSIC MARKETERS OF THE WOLRD?
We hope you’re excited about this week’s Echo.
Let’s skip the bullshit intro chat thingy and get to it :)
GLOBAL TIKTOK TREND (SOUND) OF THE WEEK
Easy | the Commodores
 | SONG TYPE / SOUND EXLANATION "Easy" by The Commodores is a timeless classic, blending smooth soul with soft rock and R&B (does it get better??). The track is calm, effortlessly cool, and instantly recognizable - especially the chorus with the iconic line: “That’s why I’m eaaaassssy, aa-aa-aa-aa…” |
 | HOW IT’S USEDThis song's chorus has become a go-to for self-deprecating humor and emotional relatability on TikTok. The common format is creators confessing a "flaw" or insecurity, like being anxious, overly sensitive, or introverted, followed by a line that playfully challenges social norms, like "God forbid someone has a hobby." |
WHY IT WORKS
A recognizable all-time classic that people recognize
The chorus provides an instant and consistent hook
Soft, laid-back vibe cuts through noisy content feeds
The contrast between the laid-back, dreamy sound and the self-aware vulnerable or sarcastic humor makes the content hit
LOCAL TIKTOK TREND (SOUND) OF THE WEEK - AWESOME INSPIRATION
Ireland & Denmark: Devotion | Lance Savali
SONG TYPE | SOUND EXPLANATIONDevotion by Lance Savali is a vibrant house song with an incredibly infectious rhythm. The vocals are soulful, and built for movement. It's the kind of sound that instantly gets listeners pumped wanting to dance. | HOW IT’S USEDThis trend is mainly people (usually 2) performing a specific dance to the song, but with different backgrounds, styles and texts. |
WHY IT WORKS
1/ Super catchy song that gets you excited
2/ The track starts with “come on, come on”, which creators often use to wave the viewer in, making it feel like you’re invited to join
3/ People want to see how the creators do the dance (“is it good or not?”)
4/ The dance itself is simple with just steps and no complex moves, making it super satisfying to watch and easy for anyone to try
5/ Viewers are likely to save or share it with a friend (“should we do this dance?”)
6/ The full-body framing makes viewers instantly curious about what’s going to happen
7/ When people try to learn the dance from the video, it often loops multiple times, driving up views naturally during the learning process
Essentially, cool dances people can replicate with awesome house songs tend to work…
SOCIALS NEWS | WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOCIAL MEDIA?
LinkedIn takes further steps into TikTok territory
Okay we get it, LinkedIn can be a bit boring, but it seems like TikTok and short-form is here to stay since the #1 professional social media platform keeps replicating them…
LinkedIn is investing more into their video formats, now adding a video trends feature. This will encourage members to add their own video responses to trending topics in the app (imagine trends like “tariffs”).
In the new header on a clip, you just tap on the trend to see more of it, and you’ll even be asked to share your version.
Overall, we’re very positive on LinkedIn going all-in on video, and we see plenty of opportunity.
WHY THIS IS A BIG DEAL
Before, music marketers couldn’t do a lot of LinkedIn - because it was simply too boring. This has now changed since you can reach professionals by doing cool videos.
Here are a few examples we see working great (high value + trend friendly).
Behind the | Music industry | Music release |
LinkedIn doesn’t use much sound at the moment, so spreading music is not the play (although we think this will change). But reaching and connecting with other industry leaders is obviously still a nice thing :)
We’ll keep you all posted on all future LinkedIn developments.
DATA | THE WORLD OF MUSIC QUANTIFIED
SPOTIFY | TOP 5 GLOBAL SONGS
Top 5 | Song & Artists | Streams |
|---|---|---|
1. | Die With a Smile, Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars | 42.6 million streams |
2. | Birds of a Feather, Billie Eilish | 35.2 million streams |
3. | Ordinary, Alex Warren | 33.7 million streams |
4. | APT., Rosé & Bruno Mars | 33.2 million streams |
5. | Luther, Kendrick Lamar & SZA | 28 million streams |
SPOTIFY | TOP 10 GLOBAL ARTISTS
Top 10 | Artist |
|---|---|
1. | Bad Bunny |
2. | Taylor Swift |
3. | The Weekend |
4. | Drake |
5. | Kendrick Lamar |
6. | Ariana Grande |
7. | Billie Eilish |
8. | Bruno Mars |
9. | Playboi Carti |
10. | Lady Gaga |
TIKTOK VIDEO OF THE WEEK - CONCEPT INSPIRATION
LAUNDRY SEACRETHere’s a UGC video promoting a laundry detergent. Sounds boring, right? We beg to differ. We picked this video because of how cleverly it's shot. Washing laundry has never looked so satisfying, and it doesn’t feel like an ad at all. The angles are perfect, the backgrounds are spot-on, and the energy is just right. It’s a prime example of making something simple look cool and engaging. This is definitely a concept worth replicating. |  |
MUSIC EVENT OF THE WEEK
Coachella 2025
Coachella 2025 kicks off this weekend in Indio, California. With headliners like Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone, and Travis Scott, it’s sure to be a massive hit. Over a quarter million people are expected to show up, so we’ll definitely see a lot of engagement here.
If anyone wants to surf someone else’s wave, here’s a great opportunity.
WEEKLY TIP | HOW TO MAKE A SHORT-FORM VIDEO GO VIRAL
Making a short-form (TikTok) video go viral ain’t easy, but there are things you can do to really increase your chances. Except for rare outliers, all great short-form videos feature these traits:
Easy and satisfying to watch - nothing strange going on
Relatable
Easy to understand
Attention-grabbing (great hook)
Encourage sharing
Clean background
Clear theme
Filmed from a one-point perspective
Read more about these tips here.
WHAT’S GOING ON AT PARASITION?
We’ve worked with 3 campaigns this week. They’re in 3 different countries, and the sounds are very unalike, so there’s plenty of inspiration to gain.
Kaskade x Lipless | State of Mind
 | WHY THIS VIDEO ROCKS:
Check out the video here. |
Mölly | Wild Again
 | WHY THIS VIDEO ROCKS:
Check out the video here. |
Kasino | Oh Love
 | WHY THIS VIDEO ROCKS:
Check out the video here. |
Other Parasition stuff
So what’s happened at Parasition? Quite a bit…
Launched a new website focused on creators, since they’re what really matters
Had our first community event with a dinner in Bali
Tons of work on our creator app which should be ready to launch in the coming month
Almost finished our first (angel) fundraising round
Launch of The Echo
KEY TAKEAWAYS OF THIS WEEK’S ECHO
Easy by the Commodores is the #1 TikTok trend at the moment, with relatability as a core
Traditional TikTok dance videos with hype music (like Devotion) is still going strong
LinkedIn is going further down the short-form rabbit hole, and there’s plenty of new opportunity for music marketers to connect with important people
Bad Bunny is the #1 artist on Spotify, and Die With a Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars is the #1 song
Ads don’t have to look like they’re ads… Brilliantly showed in the previous example
Coachella 2025 is definitely going to be shaking things up in the worlds of music and music content
Going viral is tricky, but there are clear steps to take to improve your odds, like getting the filming right and making the content relatable and attention-grabbing
See you next week music nerds :)
We hope you liked the Echo, and we really hope you stick around to see what more we’ve got in store. Because we promise you: It’s only going to get better from here…
Are you interested in taking your music marketing campaigns to the next level? Reach out to Parasition, and we’ll make cool things happen together.