StreamTok Syndrome

Hello You

Before we get into this week’s, we called it last week when we suggested Spotify’s price hike would coincide nicely with some more bloat. In-app messaging was just announced. Interesting development.

And for this week…

TikTok changed the game for music discovery, but at the same time, turned it into ultra-scrollable clips.

Artists are desperate to go viral, labels want big names that reach the million+ view marker, and we are left with 15-second clips featuring a new TikTok dance. But what does it do to music, and do we secretly love it?

Do you have StreamTok Syndrome?

SongsBrew Editorial

Generous and ruthless

TikTok is both one of the most generous social media platforms and the most ruthless. With each new minute, we get millions of tiny pieces of content that we can scroll through. And boy oh boy do we scroll.

A song will go viral, and whether it comes from the paid promotion campaigns or organic, it doesn’t really matter - we’re in the scroll, not watching the tags. Within a few hours, we’ll all catch that bug. After about the 25th time hearing the clip, you’ll think you love it, and before you know it, you’re commenting, “When on Spotify?”

We’re all in it. We’ve all caught it. StreamTok Syndrome.

TikTok changed everything when it came to music discovery and sharing. It offered artists something that playlists and streaming services didn’t. Despite TikTok’s own music streaming platform not taking off, 15 seconds might be all that’s needed to get the hit they were looking for on the main app.

Music discovery is becoming democratized. The only snag is that discovery wasn’t translating to long-term fans for most artists. Users of the sound and those who jumped on the trend or shared it weren’t in it for the artist, but were in it for their own few seconds of fame and virality.

The full song? You need to leave the clock app to find it, but the hook, the bit you love? It’ll be right there on your next doomscrolling session. A loop is all it takes. Who is the artist? Unless you put in the work, open the comments, or tap the sound, you won't know.

And the worst part is, we know how bad it is for us, and we probably know how bad it is for the artist, but we’ve all fallen in love with our new internet addiction. So we’re staying.

How it spreads

Only Hooks: You’ll continuously hear the same 15 seconds, and most of the time, you won’t need more. Your FYP is packed with just the sound, you can’t escape the loop (and maybe you don’t want to).
Ghost Artists: You know the sound, not the name. Discovery doesn’t translate into loyalty, in fact, it is anything but. You know the catchy 15-second word for word, but who sings it? You’re not sure you even care.
Trend Dependent: When a song gets chewed into the TikTok algorithm, it is almost as if it wouldn’t have existed without it. And perhaps worse still is that, when the trend dies down, the visibility dies with it. The rise and fall of the streaming numbers happens when, and only when, you catch that trending sound. You need it more than it needs you.

TikTok promises exposure for millions of artists, but delivers instability for the majority. One viral moment can brand you forever as a TikTok trend instead of a musician. And is that the legacy that artists are willing to accept, and we, the listeners, want to allow? Accepting that this is what they get for the years of hard work, while millions of people do a 15-step dance to it?

We are mainlining music faster than ever, but remembering much less. We don’t need to remember anything at all because TikTok feeds us what we need, and if it doesn’t, the Spotify algorithm will. We’ve spoken about this so many times now that it is almost boring. Playlists are clogged with tracks we only half-know from a dance trend that came and went on a dull Thursday afternoon, as you scrolled on the bus or on the sofa.

Prognosis? Some artists escape the cycle and turn fifteen seconds into something more meaningful, something worth remembering. But they are rare. The system is built for speed. It is the never-sleeping, always-speeding, always-something-to-see doomscrolling paradise.

StreamTok Syndrome is the condition of our time, or maybe just for the next 15 seconds. Generous in discovery, ruthless when it comes to longevity. The question is whether the culture (whether we) wants a cure or if we are down with the sickness (10 points if you get the reference there). And maybe deep down, we are enjoying it.

Because it is all too easy to pick up and start scrolling, it is one of the easiest things to do (there is a reason we need to add self-imposed timers to our tech, detox, or turn off notifications). Not only is it easy, it is fast and enjoyable.

The chances of this changing any time soon are slim because we’re in the height of TikTok’s moment, and billions of us are loving it. We are more than happy to while away the hours enjoying tiny music clips, knowing we need to close the app and treat music better (something we covered in ‘Deep Listening Is Your Future’). But, when it is this convenient, why would we?

If, like most of us, you’re happy in the doomscrolling (StreamTok Syndrome), here are about 200 TikTok trending sounds (2019-2025), in their full form, that you can listen to as you scroll: