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The Echo Vol. 5 - Repetition is the way?

The previous edition's 60s Pop sound takes global control (again...)

May 14, 2025

May 14, 2025

by Parasition

WHAT’S CRACKIN’?

We’re cruising, and hope your week’s been just as smooth :) Let’s jump into this week’s Echo.

GLOBAL TIKTOK TREND (SOUND) OF THE WEEK

5.6 million likes

Pretty Little Baby | Connie Francis (again)

Genre: 60s Pop
Video style: Lip sync / cuteness

Pretty Little Baby is the old school classic that went viral last week, but took over the entire globe this week. The vocals are warm and comforting, and the melody is gentle and nostalgic.

The main thing about this sound is the repeated phrase “pretty little baby,” that’s very soothing and hypnotic. The 60s vibe is also what makes it stand out.

Takeaways

— Nostalgic sounds are continuing to kill on TikTok

— Repetitive lyrics combined with a romanticizing old school vibe creates a hook and makes the sound easy to use

LOCAL TIKTOK TREND (SOUND) OF THE WEEK
Germany

220k likes

Borderline | Ely Oaks & Lavinia

Genre: Electronic / Dance
Video style: Lip sync / Random

Here’s a song with a cool and confident vibe. It’s very well known, making it recognizable and interest-evoking.

A key thing here is that it’s a remix, which often works extremely well on TikTok. This sound’s remix has a strong “effect” that makes it pop (creating a hook).

Takeaways

— Confident and cool songs have recently went viral in many places on TikTok

— Remixes continue to perform very well

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram launches unlockable Reels

Instagram just launched its Unlockable Reels feature, which has been highly anticipated. This feature lets creators share exclusive videos that can only be accessed with a secret code. Essentially, the Unlockable Reels feature gives creators and brands a way to drop “memebers-only” content on Instagram.

Why this matters for music marketing

If there’s one new feature in recent times that matters for music marketers, it’s this one. Now, you can tease unreleased tracks and a whole bunch of other cool stuff to build up hype and create exclusivity and community. For example, if you’ve got a gig coming up, you can drop a ticket launch for only those with the right content code (which they might get from doing something like signing up on an email list).

DATA | THE WORLD OF MUSIC QUANTIFIED

Spotify’s weekly global top 5 songs

— #1. Die with a smile | Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars // 39.7 m weekly streams

— #2. Ordinary | Alex Warren // 37.8 m weekly streams

— #3. Birds of a Feather | Billie Eilish // 33.6 m weekly streams

— #4. APT. | Rosé & Bruno Mars // 28.1 m weekly streams

— #5. La Plena - W Sound 05 | W Sound, Beéle, Ovy On The Drums // 26 m weekly streams

Spotify’s weekly global top 10 artists

— #1. Bad Bunny // Latin trap

— #2. Taylor Swift // Pop

— #3. Drake // Pop

— #4. The Weeknd // Alternative R&B 

— #5. Lady Gaga // Pop 

— #6. Billie Eilish // Alternative pop

— #7. Fuerza Regida // Varied // Regional Mexican

— #8. Kendrick Lamar // Hip hop

— #9. Ariana Grande // Pop

— #10. Bruno Mars // Pop

TIKTOK VIDEO OF THE WEEK:
“Please TikTok help me find this boy”

Views: 87.300.000 | Likes: 11,600,000

There are few truly wholesome unstaged videos on TikTok these days, but here’s one of them.

This video works because people want to know how the video plays out. And how it plays out is why it’s blown up:

— #1. Messiness of the video and sound captures attention, since you want to understand what’s going on

— #2. Short and concise caption let’s you know what the video is about, and it makes you curious to see what’s going to happen (who is her future husband?? And why??)

— #3. Wholesomeness of the video makes it enjoyable, especially considering how unstaged it feels. This creates extra engagement because people are sharing it to show others how nice it is

— #4. Caption creates engagement, as people want to help the cute couple (either by just liking or actively sharing)

— #5. Despite messiness (which works here), the video has great lighting and filmes from an excellent angle

MUSIC EVENT OF THE WEEK:
Welcome to Rockville 2025

Welcome to Rockville 2025 is one of North America’s largest rock festivals, and it will take place May 15-18 in Daytona Beach, Florida. During the event’s four days, people will get to hear legends like Green Day, Linkin Park, Rob Zombie, and Pierce The Veil.

Over 150 bands will perform in total, and there will be plenty of cool specials. Once again, Rock will be circulating on all major platforms 🤘

TIP OF THE WEEK
How to nail lighting in short-form videos

Lighting is one of the absolute most important parts about making good content, no matter the platform. However, we’d say it’s extra mandatory to get right on short-form, because it will either help capture the viewer’s attention or make them scroll past.

How to get it right

— #1. Use natural light from the front — Soft, indirect daylight creates a flattering and professional look everyone loves. Get this from filming outside or near a window during daylight hours, but avoid harsh direct sunlight that creates the wrong shadows or overexposure. The light should not hit you from behind

— #2. Avoid overhead lighting — Unfortunately, ceiling lights usually cast unflattering shadows under your eyes, chin, and other places. So, if you’re shooting indoors, turn off your overheads. If there’s no natural light available, you can use a simple ring light

— #3. Consistency is key — Sudden lighting changes are rarely a good thing. It distracts the viewer and just makes you look unprofessional

— #4. Don’t forget about lighting up your background — If the backdrop is too dark or weirdly lit, it can pull focus away from you and the content. Using small accent lights (like lamps) are great if you’re indoors, and outside you’ll just have to pick your spot

— #5. Use the Three-Point rule — This rule is a classic setup where you use a key light (main lighting source), fill light (to soften shadows), and back light (to separate you from the background). It creates depth and makes your subject pop. Nice right?

PARASITION: Campaign breakdown

3,400+ views

Passiv Aggressiv Inkomst | Maskinen

Genre: Electro Hip Hop
Video style: Random

Here’s a super energetic Electo Hip Hop song Parasition helped promote. From this campaign, we learned that high BPM songs like this go very well with the double speed effect on TikTok, among many other things.

The creator in this example video did a fantastic job with the lighting. She also started with a close up, which creates a small hook. The caption is great, since it builds excitement.

Campaign learnings

— Double speed effect on TikTok is great for high BPM sounds

— High energy songs can work really well with a humoristic caption

— The campaign brief should not be too open

ROUND-UP 

— Nostalgic songs (with focus on the 60s) are killing on TikTok, all over the world

— Repetitive lyrics are super trend-friendly

— “Confident” and “cool” songs continue to work really well

— TikTok loves a good remix

— Instagram launches an Unlockable Reels feature which can help you make content more exclusive, and more hyped as a result

— Short form videos should (almost) always have perfect lighting. Use natural front-facing light and keep it consistent

— For high BPM songs, using the double speed effect on TikTok is a great way to make the content engaging

Hope you liked this week’s Echo :)

Are you a music marketer? And do you want to make your songs blow up on TikTok? Reach out to us at Parasition and we’ll make cool things happen together 🕺🚀

// The Echo Team